The Health ministry and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) have collaborated to create the official COVID-19 information hub available through SMS, free for Econet users. By Cecilia Kamuputa
Econet Zimbabwe is the biggest telecommunications operator in the country with 11 million mobile subscribers.
In a joint media advisory statement, Donald Mujiri from the Health ministry and Unicef chief of communications, James Maiden said with the support of Econet Zimbabwe, access to the information hub was available by sending an SMS saying “Hi” to the number 2019.
“The purpose of SMS access to the information hub is to reach more people across Zimbabwe particularly in regional and rural populations who may not have smartphones or access to WhatsApp,” read the statement.
The SMS access to the information hub is a follow on from the WhatsApp information hub which is available for people with phones that can access the instant messaging platform.
“The automated messaging chatbot uses menu prompts to provide official and latest updates including Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) daily updates, prevention and general information as well approved key messages for the general public in Zimbabwe.”
To date more than 80,000 users have registered on the WhatsApp hub with more than 1,5 million messages exchanged.
Recently, the High Court issued an order to the ministries of Health and Child Care and Information, Publicity and Broadcasting to promote citizens’ access to information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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