Around 100 Accredited Social Health Activists participated in a co-design workshop in Guwahati to help shape an artificial intelligence-enabled training platform and multilingual voice chatbot.
The workshop aims to strengthen cervical cancer screening and community counselling in rural Assam. It was organised by The George Institute for Global Health India in collaboration with the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.
The project is funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and runs from November 2025 to November 2028. During the workshop, ASHAs reviewed 155 commonly asked questions related to cervical cancer and screening.
They used a bindi-based voting exercise to identify questions they encounter most frequently in their communities. These inputs will be used to develop the knowledge base for the proposed chatbot to address health information needs.
The workshop also assessed digital technology familiarity among the workers.
Younger and middle-aged participants said they regularly use mobile phones for reporting, while some older workers reported greater difficulty with digital tools. The participants mapped their work and training needs, highlighting the importance of voice-based interaction in Bangla and simple-language content.
