There's a new doctor in town, but Australians only need to go online for a visit to get information about their health.
A team of medical academics, clinicians and entrepreneurs is behind a new website called Health& aimed at delivering medically verified information on a range of health topics.
Health is one of the most commonly searched subjects online but it can be difficult to know what material is reliable.
Health&'s medical advisory board chair, Professor Leon Piterman, says it's important Australians are presented with balanced, credible sources.
The new site, launched on Sunday, is free to use and ad-free.
"We have covered 400 topics so far. Everything from immunisations, acne, and healthy eating, right through to gout, schizophrenia, contraception and even ice addiction," Prof Piterman said.
The site, starring Doctor Sonoa and a cast of 24 characters, uses written, animated and illustrated education resources.
"Our animators take people inside the body to teach them about the biological effects of health conditions and diseases, and outside the body to learn about social context and behavioural drivers that can affect our health," Prof Piterman said.
Future plans include tailoring the resources to different styles and languages, as well as addressing preventable health conditions such as smoking, alcohol consumption and poor nutrition.
The project's main financial backer and founder is healthcare entrepreneur Bob Biddle.
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