World Telehealth Initiative Receives Investment from Intel Corporation to Expand Access to Medical Care in Vulnerable Communi...
December 22 2020 - 8:00AM
World Telehealth Initiative (WTI), a leading nonprofit organization
working to advance sustainable access to healthcare in
under-resourced communities around the world, today announced an
investment from Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC). The investment
will be used to support WTI’s global scale, especially amid the
COVID-19 pandemic, and further leverage Teladoc Health’s (NYSE:
TDOC) virtual care enablement platform to expand access to care
worldwide.
Founded in 2017, WTI enables access to care in more than 15
developing communities worldwide – including Cox’s Bazar,
Bangladesh, Lilongwe, Malawi, and Port au Prince, Haiti – and plans
to expand to 40 communities within the next two years. WTI’s
network of volunteer medical professionals leverage Teladoc
Health’s virtual care platform and devices to interact with people
in under-resourced community clinics and facilities, despite being
countries apart. Teladoc Health’s proprietary technology offers
improved connectivity and breaks down traditional barriers to
health by providing local care teams and physicians additional
capacity and specialty care services. WTI will use Intel’s
investment to partner with more community clinics in developing
countries.
“We are incredibly grateful for Intel’s investment and its
recognition of the importance of our mission,” said WTI Co-Founder
and Executive Director Sharon Allen. “While COVID-19 has
accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, the need for reliable
access to clinical care was already near critical levels before the
pandemic. Reducing the morbidity and mortality of vulnerable
populations requires equitable access to health workers. To provide
a consistent medical presence wherever needed, we need a pragmatic,
cost-effective solution that is simple to deploy and easy to scale.
Telehealth is the answer.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one
billion people cannot obtain the health services they need because
those services are either inaccessible, unavailable, unaffordable,
or of poor quality. Additionally, 40% of countries have fewer than
10 doctors per 10,000 people. Although strategies to recruit,
train, and develop the health workforce are improving, they are
often not rapid enough to keep pace with population growth. This is
compounded by difficulties in deploying health workers to rural,
remote, and developing areas. Through WTI, medical professionals
can volunteer their time and services from their home or office,
eliminating these barriers.
“Together, World Telehealth Initiative and Teladoc Health
democratize access to care through activism and innovation,” said
Yulun Wang, Ph.D., head of research and development, Teladoc
Health, and co-founder and chairman, WTI. “We are thankful for
Intel Corporation’s investment and the opportunity to use advanced
technology to further enhance the clinical capabilities of
developing countries. We fully believe that virtual care provides
more equitable and sustainable access to quality healthcare for
all, and we are proud to take the necessary steps to solve the
healthcare delivery challenge.”
Since its inception in 2017, WTI has:
- Provided access to virtual care assistance to surgically repair
obstetric fistulas in women at the Fistula Care Center in
Malawi.
- Enabled access to care in the areas of internal medicine,
infectious disease, neurology, dermatology, mental health, and
pulmonology to treat thousands of men, women, and children at
Bangladesh’s HOPE in Kutupalong Refugee Camp and Cox’s
Bazar.
- Supported craniofacial surgery for children with birth defects
in Vietnam.
- Established an oncology program in Kashmir.
- Served vulnerable women and children at Hospital Público
Materno Infantil de Salta and Centro Provincial Eva Peron in
Argentina.
- Partnered with Mercy Ships to bring dental and surgical
expertise to the community of Conakry, Guinea.
- Lined up respiratory and anesthesiology specialists for
COVID-19 consultations in Haiti.
- Provided access to mental healthcare in Puerto Rico in relation
to distress due to hurricanes, earthquakes, and COVID-19.
- Preparing to support pediatric healthcare professions and those
treating COVID-19 patients at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National
Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan.
WTI recently announced that since the COVID-19 pandemic
outbreak, it has helped partners establish isolation wards and
infectious disease units, enabled the setup of donated ventilators,
and trained and consulted on acute respiratory distress.
Funding for this solution was provided in part by Intel
Corporation’s Pandemic Response Technology Initiative. Intel is
committed to accelerating access to technology that can combat the
current pandemic and enable scientific discovery that better
prepares our world for future crises.
About World Telehealth Initiative The World
Telehealth Initiative (WTI) is a nonprofit organization that works
to advance healthcare by providing telehealth technology,
equipment, and services to impoverished communities throughout the
world. By leveraging telehealth, WTI’s network of philanthropic
healthcare professionals provide world-class expertise and medical
training to its partner clinics and hospitals in underserved areas
of the world, resulting in higher quality of life and increased
lifespans. WTI’s management team and board of directors believe
that telehealth has the potential to reform and transform global
healthcare. To learn more, please visit
www.WorldTelehealthInitiative.org.
About Teladoc HealthTeladoc Health empowers all
people everywhere to live their healthiest lives by transforming
the healthcare experience. Recognized as the world leader in whole
person virtual care, Teladoc Health uses proprietary health signals
and personalized interactions to drive better health outcomes
across the full continuum of care, at every stage in a person’s
health journey. In more than 175 countries and ranked Best in KLAS
for Virtual Care Platforms in 2020, Teladoc Health leverages more
than a decade of expertise and data-driven insights to meet the
growing virtual care needs of consumers and healthcare
professionals. For more information, please
visit www.teladochealth.com or follow @TeladocHealth on
Twitter.
TDH Website Descriptor: Teladoc Health’s
corporate social responsibility partner, World Telehealth
Initiative, receives funding from Intel Corporation to continue
providing healthcare to impoverished communities throughout the
world through Teladoc Health’s global cloud-based network and
devices.
Contact Information: Sharon Allen Executive Director, World
Telehealth Initiativesallen@worldtelehealthinitiative.org
805-886-8016
Jake MazankeSenior Manager, Corporate Communications, Teladoc
Healthpr@teladochealth.com630-640-5253
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