Expanding Access to Health Information with Turn.io, Anthropic, and WhatsApp

Globally, 3.5 billion people lack access to essential health services, and 739 million adults cannot read or write. Since text-only digital health tools have clear limitations, there's a growing push to add voice on top of WhatsApp, which has already become a basic access point in many regions, to broaden accessibility.

The Turn.io Chat for Health Accelerator 2026 is a 24-week program aimed at this problem. It runs from July to December 2026 and will select 10 organizations building health information, service navigation, and patient engagement solutions. Applications are due by May 31, 2026.

Turn.io has supported WhatsApp-based services for WHO, UNICEF, and multiple national governments, reaching hundreds of millions of users through a network of about 300 organizations. In this program, ElevenLabs joins as the key voice AI technology partner, providing:

• Voice AI infrastructure including Text to Speech, Speech to Text, and ElevenLabs Agents
• $250,000 in shared credits
• Office hours and implementation support
• Expertise in designing and deploying voice interfaces
• Support for low-resource languages and accessibility use cases

This collaboration marks the first case where the support has expanded beyond simple credit provision into a structured program aimed at real-world service deployment. Selected organizations will receive Turn.io infrastructure, ElevenLabs voice technology and credits, Anthropic credits, mentoring, and pathways to additional funding.

Nonprofit applicants who are not selected will also be invited to the ElevenLabs Impact Program, gaining free credits and 12-month Pro access. The core goal is to enable reliable health information and service navigation that actually reaches patients.