The World Health Organisation has rolled out a free chat feature on WhatsApp to answer questions from the public about coronavirus, providing reliable information worldwide to as many as 2 billion people.
The WHO HealthAlert chatbot can give information on how to protect yourself from infection, travel advice and debunks Coronavirus myths.
“Digital technology gives us an unprecedented opportunity for vital health information to go viral and spread faster than the pandemic, helping us save lives and protect the vulnerable,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO said.
The service was initially launched in English but will be available in all six United Nations languages within the coming weeks, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, according to the agency.
The service can be accessed through this link that opens a conversation on WhatsApp. Users can simply type "hi" to start the conversation, prompting a menu of options that can help answer their questions about Covid-19. The chatbot can respond to a series of prompts and will be updated daily with the latest information.
The WHO said it also aims to serve government decision-makers by providing the latest numbers and situation reports through the new service.
The WHO HealthAlert was developed in collaboration with South African social impact technology company Praekelt. Org. Developers used machine learning to build an automated information response system that provides answers to the most frequently asked questions, with the initial aim of relieving traffic to call centre helplines.
