大象传媒

Facing a new disease such as Covid-19 is particularly difficult for healthcare workers in low-resource and war-torn countries. The charity Teleheal, is helping doctors in Afghanistan fight the coronavirus pandemic via telemedicine. Doctors from the UK, US, Canada and Australia are volunteering for the charity, offering life-saving advice on their smartphones and laptops to their colleagues in Afghanistan. They are sent patient reports, scans and x-ray images and respond with text messages or phone calls.

They discuss critical cases, send the latest World Health Organization guidelines and offer live weekly tutorials on coronavirus-related issues, including mental health and wellbeing. The doctors are available 24/7 and are also operating in Syria, South Africa and Uganda.

The 大象传媒 spoke to Dr Waheed Arian, the founder of Teleheal and an emergency doctor for the NHS in the UK, Dr Mamosai Zewar, Senior Adviser to the Afghanistan Minister of Health, Dr Asif Arshad, a consultant anaesthetic and intensive care doctor for the NHS in the UK, and Teleheal volunteer and Dr Hayatullah Hemat, an ICU doctor in Kabul.

Video producer: Stephanie Constantine

Photo: A UK medic checks in to assist a colleague in Afghanistan Credit: 大象传媒

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