mHealth Service to Reduce Maternal and Infant Mortality Announced on the Eve of Children's Day

MUMBAI, November 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) Will Launch the Program in 2014; Aims to Reach 1 Million Women Over 3 Years

MAMA, a public-private partnership between the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), Johnson & Johnson, the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation), the mHealth Alliance and BabyCenter, is launching this much needed initiative with a single-minded objective of putting the power of health in every mother's hand. An integral component of this mHealth project will be a pan-India voice-based maternal messaging program, targeting the most underserved populations.

The initial roll out of the program will be in the urban slums of the greater Mumbai area, supported by Johnson & Johnson and BabyCenter. Pregnant women and new mothers residing in slums and low-income colonies will be the beneficiaries of MAMA India's health stage-based, timed and targeted voice-based health-messaging services. The target beneficiaries will be enrolled in the MAMA program through partnerships with government hospitals, health practitioners as well as community workers active in the identified areas. Similar programs expanding to other peri-urban and rural populations are currently in the planning stage.

Despite improvements in maternal and child health in India over the last few decades, much remains to be done to meet targets set by the five-year plans and the National Population Policy (Target of 100 MMR and 30 IMR by 2010). Maternal Mortality Ratio in India averages over 200 (per 100,000 live births) and Infant Mortality Rate is around 44 (per 1000 live births). Over 20% of live births annually occur in India. The under-5 mortality from India contributes over 25% of the global 10 million deaths annually. These figures represent the staggering scale and opportunity for improving maternal-child health in India.

Kirsten Gagnaire, Global Director, MAMA Spokesperson, MAMA India, stated, "Low levels of primary, preventive care as well as low health literacy levels lead to poor maternal and child health indicators in the urban poor population. Increased mobile penetration provides a huge opportunityto send life-saving information to pregnant and new mothers about pregnancy, newborn and child health. We are extremely pleased to partner with local organizations Armman and Dasra tohelp Johnson & Johnson and BabyCenter to launch this initiative and help reduce maternal and infant mortality in India.This is just our first step. We look forward to announcing a broader program that leverages some of the existing expertise and investment in India and will be designed for scale across many of India's most needy states."

The announcement of this mHealth initiative was made at the India Business Forum, held on the eve of Children's Day.  Organized by GBC Health in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Reliance Foundation, the International Center for Research on Women, the American India Foundation, the UN Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and MDG Health Alliance, the forum was a call to action to business leaders and provide concrete steps their companies can take to secure a healthy future for all Indians. Panelists at the India Business Forum included Nita Ambani, Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation; Vinita Bali, CEO and Managing Director, Britannia and Priyanka Chopra, actress and UNICEF Ambassador.

About MAMA (http://www.mobilemamaalliance.org)

The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Johnson & Johnson, the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation), the mHealth Alliance and BabyCenter. Currently, MAMA's free adaptable messages have been downloaded by more than 260 organizations in 60 countries. MAMA currently reaches more than 600,000 mothers around the world through its own programs and programs using the MAMA Messages. MAMA Bangladesh is the first program of its kind to launch nationally and is reaching over 190,000 mothers and their families. It is on track to reach 2 million moms by 2015. MAMA South Africa focuses on reaching new and expectant mothers, particularly those living with HIV. Through MAMA's partnership with the Vodacom Foundation, MAMA South Africa is currently reaching more than 200,000 mothers.

About ARMMAN (www.armman.org)

ARMMAN is an India-based non-profit organization committed to improving the well being of pregnant mothers, newborn infants and children in the first five years of their life. ARMMAN's core programs include mMitra, a mobile voice messaging and animation film service providing timed and targeted preventive care information to pregnant women and women with children in the local dialect; ArogyaSakhi home-based care which trains village women to become health entrepreneurs providing home-based antenatal, post-natal and infancy care; and HERO, which will provide real time information regarding the availability of ICU beds and blood in the hospitals and blood banks of the city.

About DASRA (www.dasra.org)

DASRA is India's leading strategic philanthropy foundation. They help philanthropists understand critical social issues and channel funds to the most impactful, high potential social enterprises (nonprofits and social businesses), whom Dasra supports intensely to help scale and maximize impact. DASRA has directed over US$ 38 million in strategic funding commitments; engaged over 500 philanthropists and corporate foundations; published 22 research reports, and helped over 250 social enterprises strengthen their growth plans, thus bringing together knowledge, funding and people to catalyze social change.

Primary Media Contact: Adreesh Bhattacharya, [email protected], 91-22-30008385, 91-9619694313