A team comprising two astronomy PhDs from the University of Cambridge, along with three developers came up with a mobile service that should bring mobile health services and advice to developing countries.

Dubbed MedicSMS, the novel service doesn’t require users to own a smartphone, and will work with just about any mobile phone out there as long as it can send and receive text messages. Users simply send their symptoms to the predefined number, and the software in the background — powered by IBM Watson — returns the best advice regarding what the condition might be and what measures to take. The person sending the text will also be asked for his or her location, so that MedicSMS can route the information to local government and NGOs, which on their end will be able to see the inquiry on a map.

Down the road, MedicSMS could also help governments and health care organizations better understand when and where epidemics are taking root.The service is still in beta and there’s still work ahead to make it a viable solution users can trust. Down the road, MedicSMS could also help governments and health care organizations better understand when and where epidemics are taking root.

“Eventually, we’re hoping to track much more, including where similar symptoms are popping up on the map,” Harley Katz, one of the PhDs on the team, told TechCrunch.