Background:

The Government of Assam under the National Rural Health Mission has been laying increasing focus on the preventive aspect of diseases. However, for prevention, it is important that information pertaining to diseases is readily accessible. Despite best efforts, the availability of medical personnel, particularly MBBS or specialist doctors, remains a challenge for the public hospitals and health facilities, especially in the remote areas of the state. Fortunately, the advances made in information technologies have made it possible to provide medical advice from geographically distant locations. It was in this context that State Government of Assam decided to take advantage of technology to make available medical advice to all the people in the state of Assam through a simple phone call. 104 is the number of a toll-free health helpline which any citizen of the state from anywhere in the state can call any time of the day or night to access validated and scientific health related information. This 24x7 call center has been established in Guwahati by the National Health Mission, Assam, in partnership with Piramal Swasthya.

About 104 Sarathi and its services:

104 SARATHI is a one stop Health Information Helpline for resolving all health-related issues of the citizens of Assam in a time bound manner. Sarathi is staffed by qualified and well-trained paramedics, counselors, and doctors who are supported by algorithms and disease summaries. The algorithms and disease summaries standardize care across conditions. As a result, patients with the same symptoms will receive the same diagnosis and same treatment. Sarathi 104 empowers the citizen of Assam to have authentic and standardized medical advice from skilled medical professionals, including prescriptions through SMS on mobile phones. 104 Sarathi also collects information from rural health workers regarding epidemics and outbreaks and passes the information along to the government to spark appropriate response. The services offered by the initiative are:

Key features of 104 Sarathi Health Information Helpline:

Progress:

SARATHI PERFORMANCE SINCE INCEPTION