  Nokia has claimed that an estimated 70,000 have received free-of-charge mDiabetes alerts twice a week as part of diabetes prevention mHealth initiative in India. So far one million people have enrolled in the program.
If effective, mDiabetes will add to the evidence base for mHealth and become the cornerstone of a chronic disease prevention model for the developing world.
The program being jointly been run by Arogya World and Nokia India is part of Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment and is believed to be one of the first and largest programs of its kind in the world. Under the program the alerts are sent into 12 regional languages, informing Nokia mobile phone users in India about diabetes and its prevention with lifestyle changes.
mDiabetes runs on the Nokia Life platform and delivers life-enhancing information and advice co-developed with more than 90 knowledge partners, and works on a wide range of Nokia mobile phones. To-date Nokia Life services covering topics such as health, education and agriculture have been experienced by more than 95 million people across India, China, Indonesia and Nigeria.
The mDiabetes program in India started in January 2012. People enrolled for this service span residents of rural and urban India.
“mDiabetes is of special significance in India, a country with an enormous diabetes burden. We are encouraged by the positive consumer feedback we have received for our alerts to date. We are pleased with the progress we have made and are well on our way to honoring our CGI Commitment,” said Dr Sandhya Ramalingam, Head, Program Evaluation, Arogya World.
Commenting on the development, B.V. Natesh, Director – Emerging Market Services at Nokia said, “Nokia Life was designed to address livelihood and life improvement needs of consumers in emerging markets such as India. Since launch, the service has been experienced by more than 50 million people across India. With the rapid growth of mobile penetration, campaigns such as mDiabetes have the potential to reach millions of people, helping build awareness and associated behavior change.”
Karthik, a 29 year old working professional from Tamil Nadu in South India, uses a Nokia Asha 311 with Nokia Life. He enrolled in the mDiabetes program because his father has had diabetes for the last 3 years. “Earlier my father did not go for his walk regularly and was not careful about his diet and weight. I now make him go for a walk every day, have added more healthy food items to his diet and made him aware of the problems of diabetes. This program helped me gain a better understanding of diabetes, which I use to help my father have a better life.”
Positive reactions have been obtained from other consumers as well. In 2012, Arogya World asked 750 consumers what they thought of individual mDiabetes alerts. The results obtained were promising – 70% of the consumers said they remembered receiving the alerts, of which more than 90% said the alerts were clear and easy to understand, and importantly, more than 80% were willing to share the alerts with friends and family.
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