DHAKA: Tonic, Grameenphone and Telenor Health’s digital health service, has recently surpassed the mark of two million subscribers. This is a remarkable feat given that Tonic has started its journey less than a year ago to create awareness regarding healthy living and provide health benefits to the people of Bangladesh.
December 2016 was Tonic’s best month for growth, with over 639,000 GP subscribers enrolled as new members. This can be credited, in part, to the significant push by Tonic to engage with the people of Bangladesh in everyday wellness through its month-long “Let’s Move Bangladesh!” campaign in November.
“Let’s Move Bangladesh!” leveraged Tonic’s unique digital and mobile channels to raise awareness – and action – regarding the role of healthy lifestyles in preventing disease.
Interestingly, the growth in Tonic has gone beyond the traditional “early adopter” segments in urban areas like Dhaka to reach across the country. For example, 19% of Tonic members are from Bogra and 14% of Tonic members hail from Rajshahi.
In 2016, each of Tonic’s four unique features – Cash, Discounts, Jibon, and Daktar – has considerably improved access to quality healthcare. Through Tonic Cash insurance, GP and Telenor Health – supported by partner Pragati Life – have provided over BDT 750,000 in total to help cover hospital costs.
Also thanks to the over 200 hospitals, diagnostic centers, and pharmacies participating in Tonic Discounts, GP subscribers have saved over BDT 4,000,000 in health and wellness expenses.
Sajid Rahman, CEO of Telenor Health, was excited by the strong demand for Tonic from consumers in Bangladesh.
He said, “Bangladeshis have proven to be enthusiastic early adopters of digital and mobile services, and we are particularly impressed by how open people have been to leveraging technology to access health and wellness service. We are looking forward to seeing this growth continue throughout 2017. We have already begun working to build innovative new features and benefits for Tonic that will fully leverage the growing smartphone and internet penetration across Bangladesh.”
Grameenphone is offering Tonic free of charge to its subscribers in recognition of their trust and support.
‘We are tremendously grateful to our customers, and we want to contribute to their success,’ noted Petter-B Furberg, CEO of Grameenphone. “Through Tonic, we are using our expertise in digital and mobile technology to give back, and on an issue that matters for all of us: taking care of the health and well-being our families.”
Telenor Health is a new venture from Telenor Group that leverages mobile technology to improve access to quality healthcare.
Tonic is Telenor Health’s first step in addressing the health needs of Bangladeshis, providing high quality information and advice, and helping to make medical care more affordable.
Through a partnership with Grameenphone, Telenor Health is able to make Tonic available to all active GP customers free of charge. Registrations can be done instantly through the Tonic app (on Google Play store) or through the Tonic USSD code: *789#.
BDST: 1800 HRS, JAN 31, 2017
AP
