“Aponjon” (“the close/dear one” in Bangla) is a mobile phone-based health service for expecting and new mothers in Bangladesh under the auspices of Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA). Aponjon service was introduced in September 2011 in 13 locations of four districts in Bangladesh with 1200 subscribers on a pilot basis. On completion of a successful pilot, Aponjon kicked off its national sc
ale operation in August 2012. Aponjon covered all 64 districts by 2015 and reaches around 2.2 million mothers and their family members. The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is a global public-private partnership initiative to deliver health education messages to pregnant women and new mothers using mobile phone technology. MAMA (http://healthunbound.org/mama) was launched in May 2011 by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Johnson & Johnson, in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, the mHealth Alliance, and BabyCenter LLC. The initiative is being implemented in Bangladesh, India and South Africa. The goal of the initiative is to contribute to a reduction in maternal and neonatal mortality by improving health-seeking and preventive behaviors of pregnant women, new mothers, and their families, which will contribute towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. Dnet (www.dnet.org.bd), a Bangladeshi social enterprise that works for promoting access to information and knowledge through the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs), is the secretariat of MAMA in Bangladesh. In collaboration with a core group of partners, Dnet is leading the implementation of MAMA initiative in Bangladesh under the brand name of ‘Aponjon’. Our Tagline: “Power of Health in Every Mother’s Hand”
MAMA Bangladesh leverages wide-ranging partnerships with government agencies, the private sector and NGOs. Dnet keenly fosters partnerships with a number of reputed institutions in Bangladesh for reaching out to families across the country, particularly in urban slums, hard-to-reach population, and rural parts of the country. Aponjon received financial support in form of seed grants from USAID and Johnson and Johnson. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) and the Access to Information (A2I) program at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was the official government partners of Aponjon. The initiative was built upon the existing USAID and Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) maternal child health and family planning programs and is being implemented through the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP). Aponjon relies on multiple sources of support for ensuring financial sustainability. The private sector is one of the important contributors to Aponjon. Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, a leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh, is the first corporate founding partner of Aponjon.
