Aparna Hegde

The Big Picture
For Aparna Hegde, the idea for ARMMAN germinated during her medical residency, where she saw first-hand the systemic gaps that led to preventable maternal/child deaths (India has 9% of global maternal deaths, with 26,437 deaths every year). ARMMAN unlocks the potential of technology to increase access to information and risk-tracking, and to support health workers. Its mobile-based maternal messaging and health worker programs are now the largest in the world, reaching over 23 million women and 173,000 health workers — and this is just the beginning. 

“Pregnancy is not a disease. Childhood is not an ailment. Dying due to a natural life event is not acceptable.” — Dr. Aparna Hegde, founder, chairperson, and managing trustee, ARMMAN

Watch Dr. Aparna Hegde’s TED Talk to learn more about ARMMAN’s work.