When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, misinformation spread faster than the virus itself. People everywhere were left uncertain about how to protect themselves and their families. To counter this, the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with Reach Digital Health and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, launched WHO Health Alert.

Initially designed to provide trusted, real-time updates on COVID-19 in more than 19 languages, the service reached millions globally – including over 14 million people on WhatsApp alone.

Since then, Health Alert has evolved into a global digital health companion. It now supports both citizens and healthcare workers with evidence-based health information, practical self-help programmes, and targeted alerts in times of crisis.

Health Alert for citizens

Evergreen health content includes easy-to-access information on everyday health topics, from nutrition and physical activity to mental health and disease prevention.

Self-help interventions include:

• Quit: a 42-day smoking cessation programme to support people through daily guidance, motivation, and craving management. Available in seven languages.
• Well-being challenge: a modular, gamified course covering stress management, movement and healthy eating, designed for vulnerable groups with limited access to health information.
• Alerts: Weekly updates and important real-time alerts that amplify the reach of WHO’s key messaging — ensuring priority health information and urgent updates reach citizens at scale. These alerts are often targeted to regions experiencing natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or conflict.

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HealthWorker Plus for healthcare workers

This is a dedicated offering that includes:

• Fact sheets, courses, and quizzes to build core clinical and communication skills.
• Guidance on health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
• Access to the Quit programme and Well-Being Challenge.
• Talk to Connect: a free course launched in 2025 to strengthen communication with patients and communities, improving patient quality of care.
• Four practical modules: non-verbal communication, asking good questions, active listening, and supporting patients to make confident health decisions.
• Regular alerts on emerging health risks and updates from WHO.

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Well-being challenge

The Well-Being Challenge is a simple, day-by-day learning journey delivered in modular format. It uses a mix of media - like images and voice notes - and badge rewards to guide and motivate users through each section. Once completed, users (citizens or health workers) can sign up for the Routine Builder, which sends daily or weekly reminders to help build healthy habits based on what they’ve learned.

The content is sourced from WHO materials and adjusted by the Reach Digital Health conversation design team to make it appropriate for the channel and audience - especially for users who don’t speak English as a first language. The challenge supports personal well-being through three key topics: managing stress, improving nutrition and increasing daily movement

• 94% of users surveyed after participating in the Well-Being Challenge, found the modules interesting and necessary
• Users completing pre and post-surveys showed significant increase in knowledge (25-38% increase)
• Significant improvements were observed in exercise and eating habits:
  
  • Users prioritising nutrition increased by 41%.
  • Users doing no weekly exercise decreased by 57%.
• 64% said that they were sticking to their new healthy goal at the routine check-in

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Looking Forward

Conversational health services like Health Alert continue to demonstrate their power to scale, adapt and respond to global health challenges. Looking ahead, Reach Digital Health and WHO aim to:

• Expand to more languages and channels to reach underserved communities.
• Integrate new evidence-based interventions.
• Personalise user journeys through feedback loops, behavioural science insights and interactive content.
• Strengthen resilience by ensuring that in times of crisis, millions can continue to rely on Health Alert as a trusted, accessible health resource.