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By Izunna Nkwachukwu
Obrin Health, a women-focused enterprise, has adopted AI innovation to reinforce its commitment to providing accessible digital health solutions and improving access to confidential sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information, counselling, and services to young girls and women in Nigeria aged 15-35 years.
This was revealed in Calabar, the Cross River capital, when Obrin Health engaged relevant stakeholders from the health sector, community-based organisations, youth groups, and healthcare service providers on how its new WhatsApp-based artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot can positively impact the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women in the country.
The technology-driven initiative, tagged ‘Chat-to-Choice Uptake Pilot’, explores partnership opportunities and identifies strategies for improving young people’s access to reproductive health services, while connecting interested individuals to participating clinics and pharmacies through a referral-code system.
Medical doctor, research consultant, and the co-founder of Obrin Health, Dr Cassandra Akinde, noted that their digital initiative and solutions are clinically sound and research-backed.
Dr Cassandra Akinde stated that they focus on compassionate care, privacy, inclusivity, and innovative health solutions in helping young people achieve their reproductive health goals.
Sexual and reproductive health specialist, youth policy leader, and another co-founder of Obrin Health, Sarah Kuponiyi, noted that they are, among other things, into health education that benefits young girls and women.
Kuponiyi added that comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information is vital for young people and that all conversations through their digital solutions and channels are completely private and confidential, with evidence-based health content and support.
Bassey Asuquo, the project lead, said the pilot stage of the initiative is expected to reach up to 50,000 people, provide structured counselling to 15,000 individuals, and support between 3,000 and 3,500 provider-verified contraceptive uptake outcomes over its proposed six-month implementation period.
Discussions during the engagement highlighted several barriers affecting young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, including financial constraints, distance to healthcare facilities, stigma, inadequate information, family and partner influence, and judgmental attitudes among some healthcare providers.
The stakeholders emphasised the importance of confidential, non-judgmental, and youth-friendly services, noting that young people should be treated with dignity and provided with accurate information without fear of discrimination or embarrassment.
The participants raised important concerns about the accessibility of the chatbot, particularly for persons with disabilities and individuals with limited literacy.
Recommendations included introducing voice-note functionality, simplifying the language used by the chatbot, incorporating Nigerian Pidgin and other local languages, and providing an option for users to speak with a human support representative when additional assistance is required.
Other issues discussed included referral-code verification, data protection, ethical considerations in providing services to adolescents aged 15–17, and the need for adequate training and technical support for participating healthcare providers.
The engagement resulted in the establishment of a dedicated WhatsApp group for participating healthcare providers to facilitate regular communication, share project updates, address technical challenges, and strengthen coordination throughout the implementation period.
Further, participants recommended regular monitoring visits to participating facilities, practical training on the referral verification process, and stronger collaboration between healthcare providers, community organisations, youth groups, and other stakeholders.
Obrin Health reaffirmed the importance of stakeholders’ collaboration in ensuring that the pilot initiative responds to the needs of its intended beneficiaries while maintaining confidentiality and responsible service delivery.
