In India, UNFPA launches ‘Just Ask!’ – a chatbot for sexual and reproductive health and rights awareness

UNITED NATIONS, New York – UNFPA has launched a chatbot in India called ‘Just Ask!’ – an Artificial Intelligence (AI) digital engagement platform for adolescents and young adults, aimed to help them learn about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The chatbot has been developed by UNFPA sexual and reproductive health experts and launched in close collaboration with the National Health Mission (NHM) and the Department of Public Health and Family Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh, India.

The project will be partly funded by the international pharmaceutical company Bayer, which recently signed an agreement with UNFPA in India to contribute $720,000 to improve awareness on sexual and reproductive health and rights among adolescents and young people.

The chatbot provides a secure, personalized and non-judgemental space for adolescents and young adults in India (15-29 years) to explore information, become aware of their rights, debunk myths, and seek services on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The tool helps users to make informed decisions by forking over facts created and vetted solely by UNFPA, and aims to generate interest in topics often misunderstood or steeped in shame such as puberty, menstruation, sexual and gender identity, safe sex and contraception, among others. The platform has been developed in line with UNFPA’s guide on safe and ethical use of technology, keeping user data privacy at the core of its design.

An estimated 218 million women around the world who want to avoid pregnancy are unable to access modern and effective contraceptives. UNFPA and Bayer share a common vision to increase access to and provision of safe contraceptives: As such, the organizations signed a global partnership agreement in November 2022 to strengthen the resilience of local health systems. The agreement is focused on four specific areas: Capacity building, supply chain management, innovation, and gender equality and diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The project in India especially focuses on the use of digital technologies to support healthy sexual and reproductive behaviour, which informs family planning.

“Digital innovations have a huge potential in driving awareness and advancing sexual reproductive health among young people. This innovative programme is fully aligned with Bayer’s ambitious goal to help provide access to contraception to 100 million women in low- and middle-income countries by 2030. We believe in strong partnerships in identifying and implementing effective online and offline solutions for reproductive health that can be scaled and integrated into local health systems”, said Frank Strelow, head of sustainability at Bayer’s pharmaceutical division.

To emphasize the advantage of adopting digital platforms in strengthening health systems and increasing awareness, accessibility and availability of quality information and family planning services in low-and-middle income countries, UNFPA and Bayer will participate in a Linkedin dialogue on ‘Digital Innovation and its Impact on Family Planning’ on 26 July, 2023.