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    A robot answers questions about health. Its creators just won a $2.25 million prize

    At the Skoll World Forum this week, South Africa's Reach Digital Health was one of five honorees. They offer health advice via mobile phones to millions, focusing on pregnancy, babies and COVID.
    by Ari Daniel Apr 14, 2023 5 minutes
    A program called MomConnect fields questions via mobile phone about pregnancy and babies. It started in South Africa and now is offered in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Timor-Leste as well.

    Can a robot provide helpful answers to your health concerns? Like, ​​"I'm 39 weeks pregnant and I have a slightly pink discharge." Or "what should I pack in my hospital bag?"

    That's the goal of Reach Digital Health, an organization that uses mobile technologies — SMS and WhatsApp messaging — to provide helpful health-care information and guidance to people across sub-Saharan Africa who can't easily reach a health-care provider. As a testament to their success, the 15-year-old group just received one of this year's five Skoll Awards for Social Innovation of $2.25 million, presented this week in Oxford, England.

    The Skoll Foundation, which invests in and honors social change, selects a group of social innovators each year "whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that

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