Across MENA, and especially in the Gulf States due to its high internet penetration and the ubiquitous use of smartphones, people are becoming more open to using apps to assist their decision-making. The provision of reliable and data-driven healthcare apps is therefore an important step in the expansion of telehealth.
CEO, Altibbi
It is easy to take for granted the massive achievement in the improvement of infant mortality across MENA and forget just how transformational it has been. With new technologies emerging which will improve how healthcare is delivered to people, now is the time to recognize these new opportunities and promote their life-enhancing powers.
The rate of improvement in healthcare for the region is impressive. In 1990, the rate across all income levels for child mortality before reaching age one was 50.5 from 1,000 live births. By 2020, this had been reduced by nearly a third to only 18.3 infants in 1,000 and it continues to fall. Taking encouragement from those statistics, it is of imperative we apply new technologies such as telehealth to deliver healthcare to communities of all income levels and across all geographies.
To achieve this, nothing can equal marrying the widespread adoption digital technologies in the region with AI software, using data to provide greater access and improved customer service. We are already familiar with how new, disruptive technology is widening access to financial services, even for those people without bank accounts, and we can expect similar strategies to open up the provision of healthcare to previously underserved populations.
New initiatives required
The MENA region will require new initiatives to drive down infant mortality further and ensure babies and all young children are given the best start and the best prospects for a healthy life. One of these initiatives will be to expand improvements in health services beyond the immediate care of newborns at birth to providing comprehensive pre- and post-natal support. This will give people confidence around planning for family healthcare in the widest sense.
One solution is to use telehealth to provide accessible advice and consultations over the internet – rather than relying on mothers coming forward to access often-stretched in-person healthcare infrastructure. Telehealth can provide mothers with the advice, support, diagnoses and treatments they may need during every stage of their pregnancy, and afterwards as they raise their infants, when they want it – not just when a clinic happens to be open or a doctor or midwife becomes available. The benefits of telehealth services include greater flexibility and affordability, being able to increase access to reliable healthcare – accessing information and being in contact with a doctor at a time which suits parents.
We know from surveying parents they will mainly seek information from doctors or family and friends, with less reliance on online sources. This may be because of concerns about the credibility of advice from user groups on social media, in contrast to advice from clinician-led and academic-supported providers. Providers which can build credibility as a trusted online source by collaborating with medical experts, offering evidence-based content, and addressing common concerns will be most likely to attract customers seeking advice and consultations.
Credible reassurance and guidance
A child has a sniffle, a rash, an ache, or a temperature and concerned parents immediately want to know what to do. Relatives or friends and busy doctors are not always on hand to provide advice or reassurance. For immediate reassurance or for guidance on the correct course of action, telehealth has the potential to become unrivalled and a life-long source of help and support. With no queues in waiting rooms, no waiting lists to receive a consultation, telehealth offers an attractive prospect for worried parents.
Across MENA, and especially in the Gulf States due to its high internet penetration and the ubiquitous use of smartphones, people are becoming more open to using apps to assist their decision-making. The provision of reliable and data-driven healthcare apps is therefore an important step in the expansion of telehealth. In addition, it is essential that apps targeted at the region provide services in the Arabic language.
Altibbi in Arabic
Altibbi, the largest digital health platform in MENA and the Arabic-speaking world, now provides its Altibbi Mama Arabic language app for smartphones and tablets. Its pre- and neo-natal advice is now portable and is accessible from home, a café, park bench or sitting in the car.
Mama has access to Altibbi’s 40,000 accredited and interactive doctors, who have conducted more than five million telehealth consultations since its foundation over 10 years ago. Last year, the platform attracted more than 200 million visitors. The website offers more than two million pages of content and has published six peer-reviewed papers in the past year alone.
It is currently the only comprehensive Arabic language digital health platform integrating the entire patient journey. It is especially suitable for pregnant mothers, from content to consultations to advice about delivery and neo-natal care.
Obtaining healthcare advice online is undoubtedly the next step to provide more support for family planning, for expectant mothers and those raising newborns. It will become a key tool in driving down infant mortality and helping raise overall life expectancy in the future decades. After the great achievements in driving down infant mortality in the past 30 years, we should look for yet more advances in the next 30. And as those children and their parents become accepting of telehealth, so it will become the standard which in turn will then be developed further. The future of telehealth is assured.
| The author Jalil Allabadi co-founded Altibbi in 2011 with a mission to provide accessible healthcare to everyone. Altibbi has grown to become the largest digital health provider in the Arab world with over two million pages of content, as the company provides a 24/7 telehealth service across seven regional countries, conducting over three million consultations a year. Its AI engine, created by a leading team of data scientists, engineers and clinicians, also provides a unique capability for a comprehensive patient solution. Altibbi has published six peer reviewed scientific papers in the last year. Allabadi is an Endeavor entrepreneur since 2014, member of the Entrepreneurs Organization, member of the Board of Trustees at Royal Health Awareness Society and most recently was one of 17 global leaders to receive the 2019 Schwab Award. |
