In Nigeria, Delivering Vital COVID-19 Information to Millions
Stemming the pandemic’s spread through mobile phones
Across sub-Saharan Africa, mobile phones are changing how people farm, bank, and gain access to health care. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile phones are once again proving critical in countries’ responses to controlling the spread of the virus.
In Nigeria, the number of COVID-19 cases has reached more than 17,000 in the first four months of the pandemic — an alarming rate of transmission in Africa’s most populous country of 200 million people. To stem the spread of new infections, USAID’s Mission in Nigeria joined forces with telecommunications services provider Airtel.
With a few taps on a smartphone or other mobile device, millions of citizens can learn vital information to protect themselves from COVID-19.
As cases of COVID-19 emerged, USAID/Nigeria rapidly responded by supporting the Government of Nigeria to launch a nationwide risk communications campaign.
The “3–2–1 service” is a free service that delivers information to improve the health and well-being of people in developing countries. And with over 51 million subscribers in Nigeria, Airtel gives Nigerians the opportunity to access key COVID-19 messages in five major languages at no cost and at their convenience. Working with USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria and the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Airtel is providing its infrastructure and airtime to make key health information available.
“This support from USAID has further strengthened our capacity to respond to the needs and challenges of the outbreak, particularly in the area of risk management communications,” said Chikwe Ihekweazu, NCDC’s Director General.
For Airtel, the benefit is clear — purchases of Airtel sim cards have increased and more people are recommending the service.
“Airtel is excited to partner with the USAID…and other stakeholders to create a huge platform that offers a plethora of opportunities to enable millions of Nigerians across various communities to lead better and healthier lives, especially during this period of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Segun Ogunsanya, the chief executive officer and managing director forAirtel Nigeria.
Regardless of a subscriber’s type of mobile phone, location, language, or literacy level, the Government of Nigeria can now instantly reach millions of people through this partnership.
The private sector partnership has helped NCDC rapidly develop, host, and disseminate messages on COVID-19 to the public. Within two months of the outbreak, Airtel had placed calls to 15 million subscribers and sent out 32 million text messages, and nearly 190,000 people had called the 3–2–1 service to receive information about COVID-19.
The total cost of the free airtime spent is estimated at $455,000.
By harnessing the power of mobile phones to reach people with critical and reliable information on COVID-19, USAID, and Airtel are dispelling misinformation and increasing awareness for the adoption of preventive behaviors in Nigeria.
“COVID-19 has devastated economies and livelihoods worldwide,” said Michael Metzler, executive director of USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Hub. “The road to recovery must include effective private sector engagement. This type of collaboration with private sector partners, like Airtel, is absolutely essential for mounting a rapid, effective and sustained response to the pandemic and the economic destruction in its wake.”
Increased access to mobile technology creates new opportunities for innovative collaboration to provide vital health information to address urgent global health crises like COVID-19 in developing countries. As the pandemic continues, USAID/Nigeria is pursuing other partnerships to engage the private sector in the rapid deployment of life-saving technologies and health messaging.
About the Author
Anne Ytreland is the Communications Lead for USAID’s Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Hub, part of the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education & Environment.
