Airtel enables Mental Health Helpline 1926 expansion to Whatsapp

NIMH, Deputy Director, Dr. Arosha Wijewikrama, Ministry of Health, Additional Secretary – Medical Services, Dr. Sunil De Alwis, Secretary, Janaka S Chandraguptha, Airtel Lanka, CEO/MD, Ashish Chandra, NIMH, Director, Dr. Dhammika Wijesinghe, NIMH, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr. Pushpa Ransinghe at the event. Picture by Wimal Karunathilake

Airtel Lanka in partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) announced a major expansion of the 1926 Mental Health Helpline to now include a dedicated Whatsapp service.

“The recent lockdowns and the increased isolation that it caused has led to an increase in mental health related issues. Text messaging is of course a great solution, especially for young people, who tend to be more comfortable chatting instead of speaking, especially when starting a conversation with us, and we are grateful to the Airtel team for supporting our efforts to expand access to mental health,” NIMH Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr. Pushpa Ranasinghe said. Anyone in need of mental health assistance can now reach NIMH’s Mental Health Helpline via WhatsApp on 075555 1926.

“Airtel is proud to continue supporting the incredible work being done by the team at NIMH, and we hope that the expansion of the 1926 service to Whatsapp will encourage even more Sri Lankans to reachout, knowing that there is always someone there to listen,” said Ashish Chandra, CEO/MD, Airtel SriLanka. He noted that Airtel’s decision to expand the service to Whatsapp was a direct response to young users of the text-based service themselves who tend to show a clear preference for data over voice or text.