A Partnership on Mobile Technologies to Promote HMHB in Russia.

The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) and the Healthy Russia Foundation will announce the launch of text4baby International at today’s Civil Society Summit.

Taking place in tandem with the Obama-Medvedev Presidential Summit, this forum brings together innovators from a variety of disciplines to generate recommendations for collaboration between the United States and Russia.

This collaboration and launch of text4baby International marks an exciting step for a program that highlights the potential for Russian-US partnership and brings innovative technologies to health care.

Text4baby is a nationwide free mobile information service that promotes maternal and child health among women in the US.  An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, text4baby provides pregnant women and new mothers with information they need to care for their own health and give their babies the best possible start in life.  Text4baby was launched nationally in the US in February 2010 by Aneesh Chopra, US Chief Technology Officer.  In less than five months, the program has reached nearly 50,000 users with free, timely health information delivered via text messages, thanks to the generous support of the US mobile operators.

The Healthy Russia Foundation will further develop this program’s success in Russia by establishing a public-private partnership and working closely with the US text4baby team.  Judy Meehan, Chief Executive Officer of HMHB, says:  “We are thrilled to share the program’s strategies for success so that they may benefit Russian families.  This technology presents a valuable, underutilized channel for delivering vital health information to vulnerable populations worldwide.  We hope this pilot will be the first of many similar efforts to expand the use of mobile phones.”