Dear Sheldon,
Its a sheer delight to interact with people like you who go out in are the real gears of social change.
What I describe here is what seemed viable to me and there is much that can be improved from field testing and the experience of people like you.
The insights that you provide here in your four points are suggestive of that power.

Thanks Robert, for your appreciation and the inspiring.
This particular project, I believe has been taken up by the grameen foundation and they will do a terrific work of growing and implementing this idea.
I am a chemical engineer by profession - presently in the last year of my 5 year integrated course, I am working towards using the talent available at my institute (students at IIT Kanpur) to improve the performance of the SMEs in the Chemical Industry, here in Kanpur, India.

many thanks Sarah. I browsed through the link you provided. There indeed are many similarities! However, it seems that they use a directory like approach to supply information. This might need some crucial modifications to be able to interpret and handle text based queries.
I would need more information on how the service works to comment further on how this plan maybe accommodated with health-apps. Could you lead me to sources? (I have browsed through the complete section on the link you provided)

You can find more information in the following links:
http://vivauniversity.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/pctechapplab.pdf
http://vivauniversity.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/140/

The intent in both methods are very similar, still the outlined here is different from the one used by Google (I highlight the merits of USSD in teh report). Also, the proposed method of narrowing down the aspect of the query is unique. Maybe we could explore this different approach and compare the results with the Uganda team?

What's your views on the using (experienced NOT experts) people in the community to clarify advanced doubts (even anonymously?) - by connecting through call.

I'm an agnostic as far as the best technology to use so I'm totally trusting you on the merits of USSD...
I think you're spot on with your remark: 'using' established people in the community to test and refine the service is a mandatory step for me. There needs to be opportunities for feedback loops (calls, in-depth interviews, focus groups, etc.) during the implementation of this service. That's the only way to ensure its desirability and the fact that not only it is meeting the users needs, but it's meeting them in the best way possible (ie. user friendly, easy to understand, intuitive, etc.).

Manish - I understand I am late in the game here, sorry! But I just wanted to comment on your very insightful and what could be called "ground-up" approach of using experienced individuals within a community to clarify doubts. I think it is a great idea, and plays on the normal relationships that develop in communities, especially the more rural ones that would most likely be targeted by this intervention. My only issue is that sometimes community knowledge can actually perpetuate incorrect information(this gets into religious and cultural aspects as well which will have to be constantly dealt with and balanced against what modern science, medical knowledge, and public health data say).

 I think that if this approach was taken, there would need to be some quality control and/or continual training on the information that will be disseminated by your experienced helpers. I also think that this training might be necessary for them to be accepted within their communities as reliable experts. In my experience, someone who has undergone some sort of training outside their village and then returned was much more likely to be a catalyst of change and information dissemination than someone who merely has obtained a lot of experience (even if that experience did make them legitimately more qualified).

So I think this idea is great and will take off in today's ICT excitement, but I would suggest including some checks on quality of information, and possibly training or "professional development", as we might call it in the USA, of those who will play a key role in advising those in need.
To reduce costs, these could be done on a regional basis and possibly overseen by current employees, just remotely directed by specific information topics that you see as important .

Dear Carlos,
It was nice to learn of queries on this topic! I have tried my best to answer them below, please let me no if i have overlooked some portion.

The system is intended as a source of timely information and not quite as a diagnosis system. It could be helpful in say directing in towards an early diagnosis. e.g. If i have been having bad cough for a persistent period of time the system may strongly advise me to go for a doctor. and in the case of say "baby vomiting" it will send back the formula to prepare a simple re-hydrating solution with directions of administering.

To answer the other part of your question, i do not seek to provide say a complete repository of knowledge - not something like the wikipedia page for AIDS - but just the cautionary details which are the norm in the awareness campaigns in countries like India. e.g. "What causes AIDS" would receive a msg listing "sharing needles" "unsafe sex" "infected blood transfusion" etc. and these pretty much sum up most of the information there is on the topic. Highlighting these points should not be tough in a push (or flash) message (or SMS) - think of these as promotional messages that we receive from companies.
Lastly, I looked up the UNICEF page earlier - it says (based on 2009) that the literacy rate is in excess of 90%

The simplicity of the interface and ease of use is where the real value will lie. In poor neighborhoods in developing countries the tendency to ignore symptoms unless they are full blown is a reason of high mortality rates from diseases.

Manish, I love this idea! Literacy rate is indeed pretty high in the region, as is cell phone coverage. And I totally agree that the information provided could not be of a diagnosis level, but mostly some key general information, for example around some symptoms that you might have if you are pregnant. It is totally doable in this area to set up a database of simple answers that people could receive.

The community service, however, sounds a little more risky to me, as you have no control on what kind of information would be exchanged in the end. I like the idea of building on community to exchange information and demystify some of these issues though.

One of the ideas we were having was to sell that kind of product for specific issues, for example for pregnant women or newborn.
However, keeping it general is also great as we can work at preventing a variety of issues.

The targeted market could initially be youth, as they are the biggest cell phone users, the most literate, and also the most at risk through their inexperience. For example, teenage pregnancy rates are very high here in Caldas, and have huge consequences on maternal and children health. Besides, these issues are often treated as tabous... cell phone information could definitely have a great impact on this!

Older people could also be reached, with their particular issues, but we would have to rely on someone else helping them access the service.

Great idea!!

thanks Marg! I for one would definitely love to work further on this idea and see it deployed.

Hi Manish,
1. I believe this is a must do, if we want to open communication channels with the community.
2. My only question is mobile penetration in Caldas, did you find any numbers (per sure you find symbian base devices but I am not sure how deep are the roots).
3. I found very interesting that in the last Facebook announcement, Mark Zuckerberg said that younger generations main communication stream is texting and how they are enabling there platform to work directly with SMS without the need os apps. This will just boost access and penetration of this type of proposals.

I understand your point, any change will be more potent if it syncs with the youth of a society.
As far as the mobile penetration is concerned, i took my number from a document cited in a wikipedia article: http://goo.gl/Hu3IO
I don't any idea on this number in Caldas, but my guess would be that wont deviate very from this - it should be around 80%

The social aspect is creating a more connected, well knit society, wherein, the knowledge in the locality is used to improve the overall health quotient. In the process value is created for the masses. Also, my friend it does seem to incorporate the 7 principles of social! Please tell me if i am wrong sometwhere

The fee levied will be nominal, comparable to (or cheaper). Incentives can be introduced for the other part of the program (where you connect people in the community)

I envision this as a general health care awareness system, maternal care and sexual education are to serve as popular examples.

I sure will think on your request!