MUMBAI: 7 Star Care, the only health channel in India, has gone interactive. Three of its shows are SMS-driven, allowing viewers to ask questions on their health issues.

We have tied up with all the mobile operators. The SMS-driven queries will allow us to go closer to the viewers, says 7 Star Care promoter Atul Saraf.

The channel plans to launch two more interactive shows in July. Mera Astitva will deal with issues like alcohol consumption and old age where a five-minute picturisation will be followed by an opinion poll from viewers through SMS. The half-hour programme will be aired on Sundays.

The other one-hour weekly show will feature issues like AIDS, selling of kidneys and mismanagement in hospitals. Viewers can SMS their questions which will be answered to by experts.

The channels interactive programmes include Hello Doctor (to get tips from doctors), Rudraksha (viewers SMS their name and date of birth to get the appropriate Rudraksha) and Swad Aur Swasth Meena (given a weekly diet chart).

7 Star Care is on the global beam of Thaicom and is uplinked from Bangkok. The channel came up after Care TV, floated by Tanu Healthcare Ltd, shut down transmission due to non payment of uplinking charges to VSNL since February.

Tanu Healthcare had sold the brand and logo of the channel to Take Care TV, which ran the operations (programming, marketing and distribution of Care TV) for eight months from January 2004. But in August, Tanu served a legal notice, accusing Take Care of not paying for the acquisition of the brand.

Take Care TV, floated by Saraf, is planning to sue Tanu Healthcare for damages worth Rs 100 million, an amount which it claims it had invested towards programming, marketing and distribution of the channel. Tanu, says Saraf, had promised to grant Take Care a no objection certificate for use of uplinking facility for Care TV from VSNL to Thaicom satellite, but had done nothing towards it.