Abstract 
Delivering validated information to rural areas is a major challenge in low-income countries. In this paper, we study information provision to rural communities in the context of a global outbreak of an infectious disease—COVID-19. Two weeks after the initial lockdown in March 2020, we conducted a randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh and India to disseminate health information over the phone. We find that relative to information provided via SMS, phone calls can significantly improve people’s awareness and compliance with health guidelines. We also find compliance to be substantially higher among women, which also persists after three months of the campaign.
Authors: Abu Siddique, Tabassum Rahman, Debayan Pakrashi, Asad Islam and Firoz Ahmed
Type: Journal Article
Year: February 2022
Key Results
- Phone calls can significantly improve people’s awareness and compliance with health guidelines compared to SMS messages.
- Compliance with health guidelines is substantially higher among women.
- Compliance with health guidelines persists after three months of the campaign.