INTELLIGENT MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
UNICEF and EPAM partner to build trusted ‘ HealthBuddy COVID-19 ’ information platform
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PAM Systems , a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and software development services , is pleased to announce it has entered into a partnership with UNICEF ECARO to build a multi-featured ‘ HealthBuddy COVID-19 ’ information app designed to protect children , families and communities across Europe and Central Asia . Merging the common features and functions of EPAM ’ s COVID Resistance app with UNICEF ECARO ’ s interactive web-based HealthBuddy chatbot app , EPAM has engineered a new platform that enables users to access trusted information while promoting protective and preventive behaviours at the individual and community levels during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond .
“ Reaching children , young people and parents in the region with reliable and accurate messages about COVID-19 is an important part of addressing the myths and countering the misinformation around the pandemic ,” said Afshan Khan , UNICEF ’ s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia . “ We welcome this partnership with EPAM to enhance the HealthBuddy chatbot app ’ s features , services and versatility . We also appreciate EPAM ’ s commitment to work with UNICEF in the pandemic response , as we continuously strive to protect every child .”
Currently available in English , Greek , Italian , Kazakh , Macedonian , Portuguese , Russian , Spanish and Turkish , the ‘ HealthBuddy COVID-19 ’ chatbot can be tailored by national authorities and public health institutions in local languages and utilised for a wide range of potential public health emergencies or for promoting lifesaving behaviours like vaccination in the future . Below are just a few of its features and uses : y The general public can receive public health messages and information , share opinions , report rumours , ask questions to public health workers , participate in surveys / polls at different stages of the pandemic , to assess the secondary impact of COVID-19 and use selfassessment tools to prevent the spread of Coronavirus . y Health authorities can send alerts regarding those who confirm or suspect they have the virus , with opt-in and opt-out features for exposure notification to help in real time monitoring of the situation . y Health workers can access a knowledge library for information on how to manage cases , get alerts for new developments , medicines and best practices and utilise exposure notification tools to monitor infected cases when the exposure notification feature is deployed . By
having access to updated information and people ’ s concerns / sentiments about COVID-19 , at different stages of the pandemic , health workers will be better equipped to interact and communicate with families and communities with relevant and timely messages .
“ We are proud to be a part of UNICEF ’ s collaborative effort to protect children and families ,” said Arkadiy Dobkin , CEO , EPAM Systems . “ COVID-19 is a difficult virus to track , as many individuals who are contagious do not show symptoms and many regions are faced with a lack of conclusive testing or unclear guidance , which makes it more likely for the contagion to spread . By merging , adapting and expanding the combined features of our applications , we are enabling a platform that can provide critical , up-to-date information and help control the spread of the virus .” •
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