Automated mobile phone service hopes to stop spread of Ebola in west Africa

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Tue, 2014-12-30 12:18 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN by Mark Anderson Dec. 30, 2014

People in rural areas of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea battling Ebola could be helped by an automated phone service that offers advice about how to avoid contracting the virus.

By getting influential people to record the calls in local languages and dialects, Halt!Ebola believes it could help to stop the spread of the disease, said Michael Chu’no Ike, the firm’s co-founder. Photograph: Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images

Startup company Halt!Ebola is using “robocalling” to reach people where information hotlines are not being used.

The company is trying to acquire mobile phone numbers from the networks operating in these regions to enable them to make the calls. When people answer, an audio message with information and advice about the virus is played back.

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http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/dec/30/automated-mobile-phone-service-hopes-to-stop-spread-of-ebola-in-west-africa#img-1

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