Reach Digital Health service designer, Neville Tietz, writes about the transformative potential of using chatbots to revolutionize healthcare in low to middle-income countries. Africa has a young and vibrant population, and with the median age being 19 years old, youth make up almost half of the continent’s population. With this…

Five social innovators from around the globe who drive justice, equity, and stronger democracies, healthcare, climate action, and inclusive economic growth were recognised for advancing transformational social change worldwide by the Skoll Foundation. From Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and the United States, the new class of social innovators reflects the…

Reach Digital Health (previously Praekelt.org) has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Skoll Award for Social Innovation, highlighting leaders and organisations advancing transformational social change worldwide. After 16 years dedicated to strengthening health systems in low- to middle-income countries, Reach Digital Health (Reach) will continue to maximise its experience as a…

Debbie Rogers, CEO of Reach Digital Health (formerly Praekelt.org), reflects on the growth of digital health in Africa as a simultaneous process with the organisation’s development. “Creating solutions in the digital health field has been a 15-year continuous learning process for us. We have had a front-row seat to an…

“Receiving a $6 million unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott, and being recognised among many incredible organisations, is an honour and privilege. Scott’s trust-based philanthropy will allow us to leverage our 15 years of experience in scaling and replicating digital health programmes to reach more people at critical moments in their health journey. We will also be able to expand our support to health workers who serve under-resourced communities — ensuring healthier…

Johannesburg, 18 March 2020: Over the weekend South Africa’s National Department of Health (NDoH) announced COVID-19 Connect, a WhatsApp-based helpline to deliver accurate, up-to-date information to South African citizens during the current COVID-19 global pandemic. In just a few days, the service has engaged with over one and a half…

Against the background of an increased focus on the role of technology to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, today sees the launch of Turn.io, a product that leverages messaging platforms for social impact. Turn.io is a startup incubated by Praekelt.org, an early partner in the WhatsApp Business API…

Praekelt.org and Infobip have announced a partnership to significantly scale the impact of non-profits and social enterprises through digital chat conversations. The partnership will enable organisations focused on meaningful social change to rapidly launch meaningful conversations with people in need over their preferred chat applications and social network –promoting dialogue…

From Django Girls Cape Town to Code Like Her, we finally pulled it off. A lot of what Codie Roelf, my fellow colleague and developer at Praekelt.org, and I talk about is how we can “get comfortable with failure, and fail fast”. We…