Facebook has partnered with the World Health Organization to launch a new chatbot on Messenger which will provide users with accurate, timely info about the COVID-19 pandemic.

As explained by Messenger:

“The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an interactive experience on Messenger, with support from Sprinklr, to help provide accurate and timely information on the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO will be leveraging Messenger’s reach to more than 1.3 billion monthly active users who will now be able to ask questions and get quick answers from the WHO’s “Health Alert” interactive service on Messenger, which is free to use.”

The new chatbot, which can be accessed via the WHO Facebook Page or via Messenger link, will make it easier for users to get up to the minute information, direct from the WHO, at any time. 

It’s essentially the same tool that WhatsApp launched with the WHO last month, which is also being used to provide data to government agencies to distribute key updates about the pandemic.

With messaging volume increasing by more than 50% in some of the hardest hit regions, and messaging apps being a key connective tool in many remote areas, adding new tools to facilitate the flow of accurate information about the pandemic could play a key role in controlling the outbreak, while having official information on hand, at any time, could also help to dispel misinformation which has been gaining traction through messaging platforms. 

The tool is relatively basic, but it will help to connect billions of people to critical updates – and Facebook notes that 12 million people have already used the WhatsApp WHO bot.

The new WHO “Health Alert” service is now available in Messenger.