London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Saudi-Pakistani telehealth platform to train 1,500 Afghan doctors

Saudi-Pakistani telehealth platform to train 1,500 Afghan doctors

A Saudi-Pakistani online education platform will start training more than 1,500 Afghan doctors, its CEO told Arab News, as the program received financing from the Islamic Development Bank.
he EduCast platform, based in Karachi, is a joint venture run by Pakistani expats in Saudi Arabia and professionals in Pakistan. It was established in 2016 and has since been providing services in Yemen, Pakistan and to Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

For the platform’s eDoctors program, the IsDB has recently approved $180,000 under its technical assistance grant for setting up innovative online health education centers in Afghanistan, where the health system — understaffed, poorly equipped, and underfunded for years — is on the brink of collapse.

“EduCast has been awarded grant assistance from the IsDB to carry out the Afghanistan Medical Education uplift program and provide online specialist opinion services to Afghan doctors in six Afghan provinces,” Abdullah Butt, founder and CEO of EduCast, told Arab News on Thursday.

EduCast is already present in Afghanistan, where since last year it has been operating a teleconsultation with doctors at the Shefajo Hospital for women and children in Kabul.

The new program aims to train and certify 1,500 Afghan doctors through doctor-to-doctor online consultation and virtual seminars and provide in-person training at health institutions in neighboring Pakistan.

“Starting from the current month, we will set up telehealth education and clinical support facilities in six regional hospitals in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif and Khost,” Butt said.

“The online training program will be followed by in-person training for one or two months in Pakistan’s hospitals in Peshawar, Karachi and Islamabad in key health-related areas of high demand, including maternal and neonatal child health, and infectious and non-communicable diseases.”

Doctors practicing in Afghanistan have been lacking continuous medical education training in their relevant fields for years, and the situation further worsened when most of the international aid organizations withdrew from the country after the Taliban took control in 2021.

“Medical universities in Afghanistan do not offer CME-related programs, so establishing telemedicine and e-health as national platforms has been suggested to improve overall health care service delivery,” Butt said.

“In the IsDB-funded project, the provision of health care services in Afghanistan was identified as a solution to the adverse impacts of economic and political instability, after the withdrawal of international donor agencies from Afghanistan.”

Since its launching in 2019, about 1,200 doctors from all over the world joined the eDoctors program.

EduCast estimates that it has since provided e-health care and counseling services to over 4.4 million patients.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×