KARACHI: Pak-Saudi telehealth platform Educast has joined hands with Palestine’s Young Explorer to provide medical support through e-doctors to mothers and children facing Israeli attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, the two companies announced this week.
Startup firm Young Explorer is an online platform created to offer parents of special needs children customized consultations and access to multiple written and video resources, while Educast, a Saudi-Pakistan technology group, is a virtual education platform that runs the eDoctor project, launched in 2019, to re-train and return to the health care industry hundreds of Pakistani women doctors who never joined the profession due to family pressure or stopped practicing once they got married or relocated abroad.
After training them, Educast virtually connects the doctors with female patients around the world.
Under a joint collaboration, Educast will, through Young Explorer, offer the consultation services of more than 100 female doctors living in North America, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan to Palestinian families in need.
“We consider all children facing war and violence as children with special needs,” Ayah Dajani, founder and chief executive officer of Young Explorer, told Arab News from the Palestinian city of Ramallah on Monday.
“That’s why we volunteered to open our platform to families and extend free support to them and their children with the help of our team of therapists, developers and media … Educast will provide us with a big set of experienced doctors to contact the families and give them much needed support.”
“Educast is bringing over 150 Pakistani licensed women doctors from 12 countries for teleconsulting and remote health care diagnostic and mental health counselling to women and children suffering Israeli atrocities,” Abdullah Butt, chief executive officer of Educast, told Arab News.
“Palestine’s Young Explorer organization will funnel our services through its system and redirect it to about 20,000 women currently using its platform who will be able to receive video-based consultation from Pakistani e-doctors,” he said. “We will be providing our services to war-torn areas of Al Quds, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
Young Explorer aims to facilitate Educast in areas where basic health facilities and infrastructure have been destroyed by Israeli forces.
“We are giving our platform for the telehealth campaign,” Dajani said. “All our human resources will work on tech, marketing, social media, design and coordination with doctors. The service is expected to start within a week.”
“In Gaza, access to health is very limited due to the continuous rocket attacks,” she added. “Kids are under intense pressure and fear. In the West Bank, there are medical centers, but we will use the power of social media and the Internet to reach large numbers of people.”
Doctors who have volunteered for the service expressed deep emotions while discussing the opportunity of serving the people of Palestine.
“I will be pleased to utilize my knowledge of medicine to serve Palestinian sisters and children,” Dr. Rehana Din Mohammad, a physician based in Oman, said.
“I have gained experience of handling hundreds of COVID-19 patients in Pakistan,” Dr. Faizah Ayub Khan, a doctor based in the United Arab Emirates, told Arab News. “Now I am determined to provide full support to my Palestinian sisters.”
Dr. Tayeba Khan, a mental health expert based in Canada, said women and children in Palestine were facing traumatic circumstances unleashed by Israeli attacks, saying she “could not wait” to provide the required assistance to these people.
Educast has previously provided similar services to people in Yemen.
“After successfully establishing three maternal child health tele-centers in the war zone of Yemen, we are now launching another timely initiative in Palestine,” Butt said.
Educast and Young Explorers are both winners of the 2019 Islamic Development Bank’s Transform Fund. The funding is part of the bank’s $500 million grant established to improve quality of life in the Muslim world through technological innovation.
Pak-Saudi telehealth platform joins hands with Palestinian startup to aid war-ravaged families
https://arab.news/95z5m
Pak-Saudi telehealth platform joins hands with Palestinian startup to aid war-ravaged families
- Educast will offer Palestinian startup Young Explorer the consultation services of over 100 female doctors to help families in Gaza and West Bank
- About 20,000 women currently using the Young Explorer platform will be able to receive video-based consultation from Pakistani doctors
Kazakh president meets Pakistan PM to discuss bilateral trade, regional connectivity
- Kazakhstan seeks access to Arabian Sea ports as Pakistan pushes role as regional transit hub
- Commerce ministers discuss connectivity challenges as Pakistan-Kazakhstan trade push grows
KARACHI: Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrived at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s official residence in Islamabad on Wednesday for talks with Pakistan’s top political leadership on bilateral trade, cooperation and regional connectivity, with both sides expected to sign several memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
Tokayev arrived in Pakistan a day earlier on a two-day official visit as landlocked Kazakhstan seeks access to maritime trade routes through Pakistan’s southern ports on the Arabian Sea. Islamabad, meanwhile, has been positioning itself as a regional transit hub, with an emphasis on improving physical connectivity with Central Asian states.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar called on the Kazakh president earlier in the day to welcome him to the country.
“Welcoming him to Pakistan, DPM/FM extended warm greetings from the President, Prime Minister, Government and people of Pakistan,” the foreign office said in a social media post.
It said Dar underscored Pakistan’s appreciation for the growing momentum of high-level political exchanges and reaffirmed a shared commitment to expand bilateral cooperation across political, economic and people-to-people domains, while working together for durable peace, stability and development in the region.
According to the Kazakh government, bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $53.7 million in 2024. Pakistan’s main exports to Kazakhstan include citrus fruits, pharmaceutical products, garments, soap and sports equipment, while imports largely comprise onions and garlic, dried legumes, oats, buckwheat, seeds and fruits.
Pakistan’s foreign office said a day earlier that Tokayev’s visit would offer an important opportunity to explore new avenues for cooperation, with MoUs expected in areas of mutual interest.
Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan separately held talks on Wednesday with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shaqqaliev to review bilateral trade and connectivity.
“The meeting focused extensively on addressing connectivity challenges between Pakistan and Central Asia and identifying practical solutions to unlock the full trade potential between the two countries,” the commerce ministry said.
“Both sides agreed that improved rail, road and multimodal connectivity is fundamental to strengthening Pakistan–Kazakhstan trade and enabling sustainable, long-term economic engagement,” it added.
Shaqqaliev highlighted the strategic importance of major infrastructure projects, particularly rail and road corridors, saying such initiatives could generate trade and investment flows of about $5 billion, create jobs and strengthen regional supply chains.
Khan said Pakistan was keen to enhance direct connectivity with Central Asia through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, while acknowledging regional and geopolitical challenges.
“Improved transit routes would not only benefit Pakistan and Kazakhstan but also open broader opportunities for regional and global trade, including access to African and ASEAN markets through Pakistan’s ports,” he was quoted as saying.
The two sides discussed cooperation in sectors including agriculture and food security, pharmaceuticals, textiles, sports goods, leather, mining, energy and infrastructure development.
Kazakhstan expressed interest in joint ventures in food processing, agriculture value chains and pharmaceuticals, while Pakistan invited Kazakh investment in mining, minerals and agri-based industries under its investment facilitation framework.
Both ministers also stressed the need for structured business-to-business engagement, agreeing that trade promotion bodies should focus on linking firms, sharing market intelligence and facilitating matchmaking without adding regulatory hurdles.
“They reaffirmed their shared commitment to transforming Pakistan–Kazakhstan economic relations from potential to performance, with a strong focus on connectivity, investment-led growth and regional integration,” the commerce ministry said, adding that sustained coordination and private-sector engagement could significantly boost trade and investment in coming years.
