For over a decade, MomConnect, a flagship digital health programme by the South African National Department of Health, has been providing support to millions of new and expecting mothers. Launched in 2014, the MomConnect programme has empowered over five million women, initially through one-way SMS messages delivering essential reminders and health information. The programme’s shift to WhatsApp saw engagement soar, leading to over 1,000 questions daily for a limited helpdesk. This challenge highlighted the need for more interactive support for MomConnect users.

This is how Reach came to partner with IDInsight to develop a solution: the Ask-A-Question (AAQ) service.

The Power of Conversation: Introducing AAQ

AAQ has transformed MomConnect from a one-way information stream into a platform that offers interactive two-way dialogue. This innovative AI-powered solution provides immediate and relevant responses to users’ questions, significantly easing the load on helpdesk operators and allowing them to focus on the most complex and urgent cases.

Imagine a mother, perhaps in a rural area, typing in “pain in my belly” into the chatbot. In the past, she might have waited a while for a human response. Now, with AAQ, she can type her query, however incomplete or informal (misspellings and colloquialisms are expertly handled by the Large Language Models powering AAQ). The chatbot can then engage in a brief, clarifying conversation to understand the context, or, if urgency is detected, immediately escalate the query to the helpdesk.

AI in Action: A Testament to Impact

We had the exciting opportunity this month to participate in Google’s AI in Action event in Johannesburg, themed “AI is Now.” The event highlighted the major potential of AI to transform businesses and tackle real-world challenges, highlighting Google’s commitment to advancing Africa’s digital transformation through responsible AI adoption.

At the event, our Head of Engineering, Daniel Futerman, joined our partner IDinsight to showcase the AAQ solution, which we developed with support from Google.

AAQ is an example of AI in action, delivering timely, accurate, and accessible health support.

Impact: Counting on Change

The results speak for themselves, highlighting the power of ethical AI and collaboration in public health:

• By 2025, AAQ had successfully handled over 880,000 questions, providing mothers across South Africa with access to real-time, accurate information
• The chatbot boasts 83% accuracy in FAQ matching and 85% in urgency detection. This means mothers are consistently getting the right information and critical/urgent cases are identified quickly.
• Approximately 100,000 urgent queries required human intervention by May 2025. This reduces the burden on the human help desk, allowing the team to prioritise and provide personalised attention to mothers facing major health concerns.
• AAQ has shown great support for caregivers of small and vulnerable newborns, handling complex queries related to HIV exposure, feeding transitions, infant development, and symptom triage with accuracy and clarity. This constant, verified digital support empowers caregivers and reinforces clinical advice, particularly in settings where health system access is constrained.

The Future of Personalised Health Support

The Ask-A-Question solution is more than just a chatbot; it's an always-present, intelligent guide for mothers navigating important health choices. The solution embodies Reach's core belief that lasting health behaviour change comes through sustained, two-way engagement, not fleeting interactions. By leveraging AI to provide personalised, accessible, and safe resources, AAQ is proving that digital health done right is not just about broadening access; it's about delivering personalised care that changes lives, shifts behaviours, and strengthens health systems at scale.

As an open-source tool, AAQ is poised to empower other non-profit organisations, governments, and social sector organisations in developing nations to leverage Large Language Models for contextualised citizen health support in their native languages. This is just the beginning of how AI-powered conversations will redefine healthcare access and outcomes for millions.

Join us in celebrating this innovation and learn more about how we are working to build a healthier, more equitable future for all. Visit https://www.reachdigitalhealth.org/