Empowering youth in Jordan to lead healthier lives

AMMAN, 27 July 2020 UNICEF and the telehealth platform Alitibbi have announced a new partnership to empower youth in Jordan to lead healthier lives through improved access to quality healthcare, information on disease prevention, including COVID-19, and scaled-up mental health and wellbeing services.

The partnership will provide 3,000 young people with access to real-time consultations with medical professionals at no cost. Telehealth is a future-ready, innovative method of health provision that can improve access to healthcare for the most vulnerable youth, including those living in remote areas without access to specialized medical services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the critical need to provide reliable, quality healthcare to young people to support their physical and mental health, said Ettie Higgins, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Jordan. UNICEFs partnership with Altibbi will empower young women and men, who are at the most critical juncture in their lives, with the services and information they need to be healthy and successful.

"This partnership truly brings the power of smart technology to provide the youth with remote and fully private access to a great network of board-certified doctors with reliable scientific content 24/7 that allows the youth to totally defeat taboos and misconceptions. This partnership will increase health literacy by covering a spectrum of the most relevant topics that include COVID-19 and mental health," said Jalil Al Labadi, Chief Executive Officer, Altibbi.

Altibbi, a Jordanian social enterprise, is already supporting national efforts to prevent the transmission of the coronavirus through the running of the 111 COVID-19 response hotline, handling 10,000 telehealth consultations per day.

The initial 3,000 young people who will benefit from the telehealth partnership are students enrolled in UNICEFs Amaluna economic engagement programme and Syrian refugee volunteers. Each will receive telehealth consultations, informational bundles on COVID-19, mental health and other relevant health topics, and yearly in-person medical consultations.

The initiative is part of UNICEFs efforts to support young people to successfully transition to adulthood. Telehealth services are key in ensuring young people can successfully transition to the labour market, as the most vulnerable may lack access to tools and information to complete medical clearances necessary for employment, and to improve the participation of young women in the labour force.

Media ContactsClaire McKeeverCommunications SpecialistUNICEF JordanEmail: cmckeever@unicef.org

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

For more information about UNICEF and its work for children in Jordan, visit http://www.unicef.org/jordan.

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UNICEF and Altibbi partner to provide health services for youth in Jordan [EN/AR] - Jordan - ReliefWeb