The National Health Insurance Company – Daman has joined the Department of Health-Abu Dhabi (DoH), the Authority of Social Contribution – Ma’an, Etihad Airways and other public and private healthcare providers to combine efforts with Plug and Play ADGM to form the ‘Alliance to fight COVID-19’ (AFC-19). Together they hope to bring some of the best startups from across the globe to collaborate in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic across the region.
The unprecedented challenges that the COVID-19 crisis has brought upon the world have proven that the solidarity and efforts of the fast-acting healthcare industries, both the private and public, are critical in providing solutions that mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
To implement DoH’s vision of a ‘healthier Abu Dhabi’, Plug and Play helps to identify and attract the best local, regional and international startups and tech companies. AFC-19 is part of the Abu Dhabi Health Tech Accelerator.
For COVID-19, Plug and Play is providing a range of emergency response services, in addition to supporting the AFC-19 members throughout this pandemic. These services include virtual webinars for knowledge/best practices exchange and ad hoc startup sourcing from their local and global network within health, travel, enterprise solutions, supply chain and logistics.
Mental wellness is a top concern for the community and those working at the frontline of the healthcare system amid COVID-19. Through the Ma’an Social Incubator and as part of AFC-19, Ma’an is championing the discovery and acceleration of product or service-based solutions with social start-ups that can help the people of Abu Dhabi manage their stress, anxiety, fears, fatigue and other mental wellbeing challenges. With the diversity and unity of the AFC-19 members, Ma’an has ambitious targets to bring immediate mental and social relief to the Abu Dhabi community during the current health and economic challenges.
“Since early February, Daman has been supporting government initiatives beginning with the national health awareness campaign where we worked with our corporate customers, comprising the country’s largest employers, to ensure that they and their employees have the correct information to apply at work and at home. This alliance is another excellent opportunity to find more ways to support the overall national efforts to defeat this unprecedented health challenge,” said Daman deputy CEO Hamad Al Mehyas.
“DoH, Plug And Play and our strong partners in ‘Alliance to fight COVID-19’ have risen to the challenge and banded together to fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. We are deeply convinced that we are ready to look beyond the horizon of today’s healthcare and find new innovative ways to control and manage the disease. We encourage startups to come forward with innovative technologies and solutions that can be leveraged to fight this virus,” said DoH acting undersecretary Dr Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi. M