Expanding the Reach of the "Tika Vaani" (Vaccine Voice) Platform: A Bold Idea to Transform Newborn and Child Health in Rural India

MobileVaani is a missed call technology platform for bottom-of-the-pyramid rural users. Accessible free of charge from any mobile phone, MV operates in 25 Indian districts and has 1.5 million users. TikaVaani ("vaccine voice") is a project to improve child vaccination coverage in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. It uses the MV platform for (1) behaviour change communication, (2) health worker training, and (3) community-based monitoring and use of call metadata to improve governance, transparency, and health services delivery. In rural India, immunisation services are offered through monthly village health and nutrition days (VHNDs). VHNDs include child weighing and malnutrition treatment, oral rehydration, and basic disease prevention and health promotion including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Our bold idea is to expand the scope of the TikaVaani platform beyond immunisation to include breastfeeding, nutrition, and WASH, to transform the lives of newborns and children. OnionDev generates revenue through public and private streams and has experience with partners bringing projects to scale. The government of India is searching for ways to extend the reach of basic health services, investing in integrated delivery models, and is a project partner. High-quality scientific evidence is required to bring this low-cost innovation to scale and sustainability. Our timeline is designed to leverage the funded TikaVaani evaluation to be lead by Dr Mira Johri and team.