In October 2021 we launched our telemedicine programme in Ghor Province, an area that is especially affected by lack of healthcare access due to geographical and political considerations. In the winter months, roads from the urban centres or Kabul and Herat are blocked by snowfall, while weather also impedes travel between the provincial capital and smaller district towns and villages. This restricts movement of healthcare workers and medicine.

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Dr Kamila has been running our paediatric telemedicine programme successfully from her clinic since October 2021, showing significantly improved outcomes for her paediatric patients in triage and ongoing management of complex paediatric cases.

 

Our collaboration with Dr Najbi has shown that our programme empowers female clinicians to deliver specialist healthcare to mothers and children left behind by a deeply compromised Afghan public health system.

 

​The local government understands that as a result of using the app I am able to treat many complicated cases and they recently invited me to register my clinic as a comprehensive clinic for mothers and children with more equipment and staff.

I am very happy that as a result of working with specialists from Save a Child I am able to help with many cases that would not normally be diagnosed here in this remote mountainous region and as a result we have been able to help many children.

 

Dr Kamila Lal Clinic for Mothers and Children 

 

Women face more significant obstacles when trying to access healthcare in comparison to men, mostly in terms of movement restrictions related to the long-standing socio-cultural practice known as the mahram which obliges women to be accompanied by a male relative when leaving home, which can impede their ability to reach a hospital – whether as patients, carers or humanitarian workers – in several ways. For example, when no male relative is available to accompany them.

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Using our platform, local physicians can

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• safely triage and refer complex cases to healthcare specialists both locally and globally

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• eliminate geographical challenges, scaling up health services and capacity through mobile, virtual consultations

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• eliminate the need for unnecessary patient journeys to hospitals for costly diagnostics

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• make better informed decisions on the use of costly diagnostics and treatments in short supply, directing limited medical supplies to those patients who need it the most.