Cassava Smartech’s Maisha Medik is now accessable via the USSD, making the virtual assistant available to everybody with a phone, be it a smartphone or a kambudzi (feature phone). When Econet entered the virtual health assistant space with Maisha Medik (previously called Ada), it was only accessible via a mobile app.
Now by simply dialling *147# on Econet, one can Maisha Medik’s services. It’s important to note that there’s a huge difference between the services you get from Maisha on the mobile app and on the USSD. On the USSD, one can only get tips on managing and preventing various illnesses and health conditions whereas on the app, one can get diagnosed, get tips, book appointments with medical practitioners, search nearby doctors, view lab results and so much more. As you can see, accessing Maisha services on USSD is not entirely a substitute for having the mobile app.
Do you pay to use Maisha via USSD
Yes, you subscribe to get health tips. After dialing *147# on Econet and choose the health condition you want to receive health tips on, you will be presented with the following prompt that shows you the bundles on offer:
Judging only by the number of Google Playstore installations, Maisha seems to be one of Cassava’s worst performing products at the moment- the app only has not more than 200 downloads, yet it’s been on the store for 2months. Accordingly, bringing just a bit of Maisha services on the USSD is Cassava’s way to pull more users to the Maisha Medik app where they can receive much more health services.
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