Messenger Partners with Developers to Provide Government Health Organizations with Free Services to Respond to Coronavirus Pandemic

Today, we’re announcing two initiatives to support government health organizations in combating the coronavirus pandemic. We’re partnering with our developer community to provide free services to government health organizations and UN health agencies to help them use Messenger to scale their response to the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, Argentina’s Ministry of Health is launching a Messenger experience today to provide timely and reliable information about coronavirus. We’re also creating an online hackathon and inviting developers to build messaging solutions that address challenges related to the coronavirus such as social distancing and keeping people educated and informed. 

Free Developer Resources for Government Health Organizations 

Communities around the world are dealing with quarantines and other disruptions to daily life because of the coronavirus outbreak. Our mission to help people connect and be closer together is more important than ever, and it’s critical we provide people with full access to the latest and most reliable information. As is common in any crisis, people are using digital channels like Messenger to stay connected and get information from trusted health authorities that are on the front lines fighting this global pandemic. 

To that end, we’re launching a global program to connect government health organizations and UN health agencies with developers that can help them use Messenger most effectively to share timely and accurate information, and speed up their responses to concerned citizens. Our developer partners have offered to provide their services free of charge to these organizations during this crisis. Developers will help with things like automating responses to commonly asked questions, which can take some of the burden off of overwhelmed staff. They’ll also show these organizations how to share updates with their audience most effectively and how to seamlessly transition from automated conversations to chatting with a live person when necessary.

Today, Argentina’s Ministry of Health is launching a Messenger experience, with support from Botmaker.com, to answer questions from the public about the coronavirus, and to provide fast, reliable and official advice 24 hours a day. Organizations like UNICEF and Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSRC) are also using Messenger to ensure people have the latest information about COVID-19. 

Dr. Zafar Mirza, the Special Assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Health, said, “Facebook’s support on the global coronavirus crisis will be crucial for strengthening public awareness and empowering our citizens with key health tips that will keep communities safe in Pakistan and around the world. The Messenger experience allows our Ministry to scale our support and serve citizens seeking up to date information on the coronavirus, while keeping our helpline open for more critical cases.”  

Given the need to share timely information about the coronavirus is critical to keeping communities safe and informed, we are also making it possible for government health organizations and UN health agencies to proactively send important updates related to COVID-19 to people already messaging them. 

Online Hackathon to Tackle COVID-19 Social Issues

We’re also partnering with hackathon provider Devpost to invite developers around the world to participate in an online hackathon leveraging the Messenger platform to build messaging solutions that address COVID-19 issues like social distancing and keeping people educated and informed.

Participants will be encouraged to build both global and local solutions and will receive unique access to Messenger-related content, including Facebook Live tutorials with product experts and a range of educational materials to support innovation. Winners will get mentoring from Facebook engineers to help make these solutions a reality. They’ll also receive invitations to attend F8 2021, including flights and accommodations, and will be given the opportunity to participate in the F8 hackathon. 

Developers who are interested in participating can subscribe to the Facebook for Developers newsletter for updates.

We’re committed to leveraging our resources and Messenger’s reach, tools and technology to ensure government health organizations and UN health agencies around the world have the resources they need to share timely, accurate information on the coronavirus to keep people safe and informed.