NEW DELHI, March 17 (Reuters) - India is betting on cheap mobile phones to cut some of the world's highest rates of maternal and child deaths, as it rolls out a campaign of voice messages delivering health advice to pregnant women and mothers. Amid a scarcity of doctors and public hospitals, India is relying on its mobile telephone network, the second largest in the world with 950 million connections, to reach places where health workers rarely go. "It's a huge priority for us," health ministry official Manoj Jhalani told Reuters, adding that the service, advising on vaccinations and vitamin supplements, will launch in eight of the country's Hindi-speaking states by Aug. 15. "These are the most cost-effective health interventions," said Jhalani, the supervisor of the project, named 'Kilkari,' or "Baby's Gurgle", which will tailor its recorded messages to individual stages of pregnancy or the age of a newborn.

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