Image Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps
Around 70% of Myanmar’s population lives in rural and mountainous regions. People living in these remote areas often lack access to many of the basics that come with more developed living standards.
Difficulty traveling to and communicating with urban areas is a major issue, and it’s a big reason why these communities fall behind in areas like economic opportunity, education, healthcare, and other aspects of social life. Of all these gaps, one of the most important and fundamental is access to health knowledge. A lack of basic health knowledge has cost lives in remote, hard-to-reach areas over relatively minor health conditions — particularly among children and pregnant women.
Sharing basic health knowledge with people in these communities typically requires significant manpower and funding — support from government health departments, business sponsors, and civil society organizations willing to do fieldwork. And even with that kind of outreach in place, there are still challenges, since it demands dedicated time from local communities. Attending meetings or talks isn’t always easy for everyone, given their daily responsibilities.
But now, none of that hassle is necessary — Telenor Myanmar has stepped in to help make basic health knowledge easily accessible in one place. It comes in the form of the Mate mobile app, developed jointly by Telenor Myanmar and Marie Stopes Myanmar.
The app is designed primarily to build up basic health knowledge among people in remote areas. It covers common symptoms among women, children, and pregnant mothers, sexually transmitted infections, and family planning, along with general personal health knowledge everyone should know. It also includes important family planning guidance especially relevant for married women. On top of that, it provides regional emergency contact numbers for direct health advice. For people in rural and mountainous areas, this means they can now easily learn health information for themselves and their families straight from their smartphone, whenever they have free time. For more details, visit this page.