Despite being home to some of the most sought after natural resources like diamond, uranium and gold, poverty levels in the Central African country are staggering. It is ranked out of countries in the United Nations Human Development Index with 80 per cent of the population living in poverty. As a result literacy levels are low and access to education is a nightmare.
The majority of girls get pregnant due to lack of proper information on reproduction. Girls who decide to carry their pregnancy to full term are ostracised and mocked. On the one hand, we have thousands of girls entering puberty and reproductive age who have no source of information and makes all the decisions from a point of no information and on the other hand, we have a society that seems to laugh at them for their ignorance when for example they get pregnant.
One doctor has decided to do something about it. All users of the app are anonymous but are able to see all the questions and answers posted in the app. This is meant to build confidence in those seeking help. The app is a Godsend and appears to have contributed heavily to bridging the information gap going by the heavy traffic it enjoys barely seven months since it was launched.
While there are platforms that give general information on reproductive health, Doctor Love seems to click with a majority of young people because messages are personalised and they can ask just about anything without worrying about being exposed and attracting ridicule.
Dr Lokulutu who hails it as a homemade innovation responding to Congolese problems, got the inspiration to come up with the app from his own experience.
