Goodrich Life Care, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, National Early Childhood Development Program and other partners, have come up with a digital app to help educate the population on various health issues. The app dubbed ‘Muganga Online’ is flexible; one can ask questions regarding different health issues even via text message. It is an innovative facility that allows everyone with an internet connection to find a quick solution to their health condition at ease. This innovative technology is expected to help with behaviour change (human being transformation), to prevent COVID-19, help the youth avoid drug abuse, alcohol, assault, unwanted pregnancies, diseases — and reduce malnutrition and stunting. Dr Francis Habumugisha, CEO and founder of Goodrich Group, says digital health is expected to spread out to a big number of people because most of them use mobile phones. The Ministry of Health provides all information regarding prevention of COVID 19, HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis, while other partners provide information on unwanted pregnancies, drug abuse, among other things, all found on the ‘Muganga Online’ app. “The purpose is to build a ‘safe family’ but by using mind-set change on top of other current channels the Ministry of Health is using to pass information to the public,” says Habumugisha. This can be done through dialling *141# and follow the instructions, then learn whatever you need to via text message. Young people, he says, can use the app to get all the information on abstinence and most importantly, preventing early pregnancies. “On top of parents educating their children, young people can get the information they need regarding prevention of common issues affecting them through the app,” he says. There are some quizzes for users and prizes to be won to encourage more people to use the app and improve their health. According to officials from RBC, this is also an opportunity for those who don’t have TV and radio to get vital information, and those who don’t have time to listen or watch news related to health. Julien Mahoro Niyingabira, the director of Media Relations at Ministry of Health, says when you analyse the context of what the app is offering to the public, it’s actually what the Ministry needs them to know. “This is a good initiative because it’s accessible to everyone, it’s a dialling programme where people will have options to choose what they want,” he says. All this information on health conditions and ailments, he says, contains all areas of intervention by the Ministry of Health, therefore, educating the population. As a communication expert, he believes that whenever you give out information, there must be results at the end of it all; therefore, there are high possibilities of getting behaviour changes regarding the way people take preventive measures.
