Oday Najjad Provides Online Medical Consultation to his Community Facing COVID-19

Like all other countries across the globe, the government of Syria announced a complete country lockdown as one of the measures taken to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus-COVID-19.

Oday Najjad, an LAU MEPI TL student flew back to his town Suwaida and kept himself in confinement with his family. Taking a closer look at the crisis, Najjad noticed that there is an overall lack of sufficient public awareness, a significant lack of resources, and a continued deterioration of humanitarian and socio-economic conditions across Syria, making the country acutely at risk of an uncontainable COVID-19 outbreak.

Najjad chose to adopt a proactive approach to help his community better cope with the crisis: Najjad made use of his knowledge and expertise in computer science and came up with an online platform that provides online consultation services to the community in Swaida.

He built a Facebook Group under the name of « Swaida Medical Network » and contacted several physicians from different specialties to join the network and give free online medical advice to patients.

Additionally, Najjad added tips on hygiene and healthy habits to help members take precautionary measures against the virus-like staying home, covering the cough, washing hands regularly…

In less than a week from being set up for the public, the group attracted 967 members and 11 physicians volunteered their time and expertise to serve the online community.

To date, the network managed by Najjad has referred 7 potential cases to physicians electronically.

Additionally, the network called for a food bank and managed to collect 60 food rations and donated them to low-income households who were severely affected by the lockdown.

Najjad is very proud of what he and his team are doing to serve his community. Through “Swaida Medical Network”, Najjad has made a lasting, positive impact on his community in Swaida.