Access to care begins before the clinic_
No app. No smartphone. Just a call in your own language.
Primary care is still out of reach for billions of people.
That is how many people around the world still cannot get the essential health care they need.
Source: WHO & World Bank, UHC Global Monitoring Report 2025.
In India, one health worker cares for about 270 people.
There are 36.7 doctors, nurses and midwives for every 10,000 people, fewer than the 44.5 that WHO sets as a minimum. Their time is the scarcest thing in the clinic.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory, India 2024; WHO SDG threshold 44.5 (2016). 270 = 10,000 ÷ 36.7.
Patients arrive before their story does.
- 1
Feels sick
They are not sure how serious it is, and there is no one nearby to ask.
- 2
Travels and waits
They travel far, then wait in one line where urgent cases wait with everyone else.
- …?3
Explains again
They tell the whole story from the start, often from memory.
- 4
Clinician decides
The clinician hears it all for the first time, with little time to decide.
What if care began with a phone call?
No app, no smartphone and no internet. Just a call in your own language, answered by a small AI.
- 01Listen.
Bob calls back for free and listens in Hindi or Gujarati, on any phone.
- 02Guide.
Bob asks only what is missing, then tells the patient what to do next.
- 03Connect.
The clinic receives a short summary before the patient arrives.
Ring once. It costs nothing.
Kevin has a fever and a basic phone. He rings Bob’s number and hangs up before it connects, so he pays nothing.
Be Kevin for one minute.
Ring Bob from a basic phone, answer his call in one of six languages, and see what happens next. The whole call plays out in your browser, the way Bob runs on one laptop.
From a hackathon to the World Bank Group stage.
One weekend brought two wins: the World Bank Group’s Health Track and Hack-Nation’s grand prize. Now we are taking Vitamin Bob to Seoul, as an ignite talk at the Global AI & Digital Summit.
- SESSION
- Benefiting Billions: Scaling AI for Healthier Lives
- WHEN
- 21 October 2026, 10:30
- WHERE
- Grand Hyatt Seoul, Korea
Four people built Vitamin Bob.
We are graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University, working across policy, data and AI.
MeetMeet BhattAI & Backend
EgshiglenEgshiglen BatjargalPolicy & Data
YusrilYusril HanaStrategy & Impact
RizaldyRizaldy UtomoAnalytics & Research