Celebs lend their voices to spread health awareness

Conventional dial tones and popular music tracks will now make way for short crisp bits of advice by celebrities on how to avoid non-communicable diseases. So, don’t take it as a prank the next time you make a call and hear former actress Jaya Bachchan asking you to safeguard against breast and cervical cancer or actor John Abraham giving tips to beat obesity.

Many celebrities have donated their voice to the health awareness campaign launched by World Health Organisation country office for India. Mobile users can now choose a cause, their favourite celebrity, download the message and set it as their caller tune by visiting www.donateyourcallertune.in. According to Dr Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India, the country has more number of mobile phones than toilets this makes cellphone a powerful medium.

“On an average, a person receives around 15 calls a day, making the space of caller tunes an untapped area,” said Menabde, WHO representative to India.

Non-communicable diseases account for 53 per cent of deaths in India and the campaign aims to target this segment. The diseases are preventable and most of them are treatable if people are alerted and the diseases can be detected well in time. This aspect prompted WHO to opt for mobile phones as a medium.

Major companies such as Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, DOCOMO and Uninor have been roped in for the project. Other companies such as Idea, Reliance and Loop are expected to join soon.