john on Saturday, January 21, 2012 reviews [0]

Kenyans can now receive medical advice from qualified health professionals by dialing a service from their Safaricom line.

In conjunction with Call-a-doc Limited, Safaricom Limited launched Daktari 1525 as a service that enables callers to get medical information and advice via their mobile phones.

Call-a-Doc Ltd. provides a pool of 50 qualified doctors, all of whom are duly registered with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board. Safaricom provides the technological support to run the services. A couple of doctors are located in Safaricom Call centers while the others are reached at remotely from their areas of operation.

A service fee is charged per minute for every call made. This service as describe by the product managers is aimed to provide quick and easy access to medical information and advice and to allow callers to speak to a qualified, registered medical doctor, thereby supporting the health sector’s goal of improving doctor to patient ratios and improving ease of access to qualified medical professional.

This marks an important step towards the sensitizing of the community about health services and practices though it still fails to cater for the common man who maybe can’t afford the 20 Kenyan Shillings that is charged per minute.