BBC Launches WhatsApp Service To Create Awareness In Africa

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October 16, 2014 2:03 PM

The BBC has launched a public health information service on the social network platform to help create awareness about the Ebola disease.

In an effort to create awareness about the viral disease which has claimed many lives, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has launched an Ebola public health information service on WhatsApp, specifically for users of the app in West Africa.

This new service will provide audio, text message alerts and images which will give people access to the latest public health information to fight the spread of Ebola in those regions.

Content on this will be limited to three items a day, and the service will be provided in English and French. To subscribe, send 'JOIN' via WhatsApp to +44 7702 348 651

To unsubscribe, send 'STOP' via WhatsApp to the same number.

Being the biggest "chat app" currently in use in Africa, the platform will be an effective means of reaching people in the region directly via their mobile phones.

The response to Ebola is now the BBC World Service's biggest health information drive since its reporting on HIV/Aids in the 1980s and 1990s.

In addition to the WhatsApp service, the BBC is offering a range of content on radio, online and TV, including special Ebola bulletins in several languages.

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