Aarogyam is a unique community based reproductive and child health related service delivery programme based on an end-to-end usage of information and communication technology tools.

Aarogyam was developed in 2008 to provide a solution to the problem of high rate of maternal and infant mortality in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Under Aarogyam, a database is being maintained for each village of all the beneficiaries (pregnant/lactating women and children up to 5 years). On the basis of the information provided in the database, the Aarogyam software sends automated alerts in the form of voice calls or SMS to the beneficiary informing and reminding them about their pending antenatal care, postnatal care and immunization appointments. These alerts are also sent to local health officials informing them about the services that are due in the area. Aarogyam also has a facility where beneficiaries can call up to inquire about any maternal, and infant related health issues as well as file their grievances.

By December 2010, Aarogyam had benefited more than 1.4 lakh families in three districts:. Baghpat, JP Nagar and GB Nagar of U.P. Two lakh more families are estimated to benefit in four more districts where the scheme has been initiated. So far more than 175,000 automated calls and SMS’s have been sent by the system.

Since its development, Aarogyam is bettering not just the reproductive and child health delivery processes in U.P, but has also become the inspiration behind the implementation of the Mother and Child Tracking Programme (MCTP) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) by providing a workable model to other Indian States for monitoring the delivery of maternal and child health services.

This case study was published in April 2012.

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