ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 2: Our digital future
33
How digital tech is improving women’s
health and well-being in India
By Vicki Hearn, Director of Nominet Trust, the UK’s largest ‘tech for good’ funder
E
ach March, communities
across the world celebrate
International Women’s Day,
a campaign highlighting the social,
economic, cultural and political
achievements of women globally.
With the World Economic Forum
recently extending the predicted
date that gender equality will be
achieved by nearly 40 years (from
2096 to 2133), it’s particularly
poignant that the 2016 campaign
theme is #PledgeForParity.
One of the leading barometers for
global gender parity is the United
Nations Development Programme’s
Gender Inequality Index, which
measures a number of factors such
as women’s reproductive health,
empowerment and labour market
participation. Currently lagging in
130th place on this Index, and in
the bottom 60 countries, is India.
But things are changing.
India is at a pivotal point in its
history. As the world’s fastest-
growing economy, Internet access
across India is rapidly increasing
and, by 2017, it’s expected to
become the second largest
smartphone market on the planet.
With the dual effect of enhanced
access to digital solutions helping
to improve women’s health and
well-being, combined with support
for the rise in entrepreneurship,
the stage is set for a movement to
address the gender imbalance.
At the forefront of this movement
is a growing host of remarkable
local digital innovators. Over the
last three years, Nominet Trust’s
quest to find new and inspirational
social tech projects for our NT100
showcase has shone a light upon
three mobile technology initiatives
in India. All led by incredible female
entrepreneurs, they are not only
radically improving the daily lives of
women, but also forming part of a
more significant movement towards
gender parity.
New beginnings for
maternal health
The Mobile Alliance for Maternal
Action (MAMA) uses mobile phones
to deliver vital health information
to new and expectant mothers,
supporting programmes in India,
Bangladesh and Africa. According
to MAMA, India accounts for 17 per
cent of global maternal mortality,
27 per cent of global newborn
mortality and 25 per cent of
global child mortality – the largest
share of any country. However,
the ubiquity of mobile phones has
made possible the introduction of
a knowledge-sharing service for
young, under-served women, often
with low literacy levels, with the
aim of reducing often preventable
deaths.
In 2014, MAMA launched a
programme in the Mumbai slums,
partnering with ARMANN, an NGO
founded by urogynaecologist, social
entrepreneur and TEDx speaker, Dr
Aparna Hegde. Known as mMitra
(mitra literally meaning ‘friend’ in
Hindi), the digital service sends
free pregnancy and child health
information to pregnant women and
new mothers twice each week, in
a language and at a time of their
choosing. Information is sent via
SMS or as a recorded message, and
explains the developmental stage of
a child throughout pregnancy and
the baby’s first year of life. Mothers
therefore understand the expected
developmental milestones and
can identify and seek treatment
for potential health issues before
they escalate. Within the first few
months alone, mMitra had 50,000
subscribers. MAMA hopes to take
the programme to scale across
India.
Hard life, early death
Diseases such as tuberculosis
(TB) can have particularly severe
consequences for Indian women
during their reproductive years.
TB is one of the top five causes of
death for adult women aged 20–59
and India has the highest number of
TB sufferers globally, with 220,000
total deaths in 2014 according to
the World Health Organization.
Once again, however, a determined
female entrepreneur is helping
to combat the issue. Operation
ASHA, an NGO based in New Delhi,
