The Beginnings
In 1998 British safari guide Huw Jones was driving through the remote Zambian bush when he suddenly came upon a trail of sticky blood on the dusty road.
After following the trail for several miles, Huw caught up with a heavily pregnant woman slumped on a bicycle as her husband pedalled frantically in the relentless heat to get her to the nearest hospital, some 60km away.
Despite Huw’s efforts, after such huge loss of blood, the woman and her unborn baby died in the jeep on the way; but the concept for the Virtual Doctor service, which would use the internet to save lives in rural Africa, was born.
The milestones
2007 Development of first concept of mobile clinics
2009 Charity registered under Virtual Development UK
2011 Initial trial of telemedicine concept in Kafue District, using one Virtual Doctor in New York and satellite communications
2013 Pilot project, using 20 Virtual Doctors and Fizzbook computers, launched in six rural health centres in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Zambia
2015 Development and launch of our bespoke telemedicine app, specifically designed for rural Zambia, and the use of smartphones
2016 Expansion of service in Zambia
2018 the Virtual Doctors are present in over 60 sites across 9 districts of Zambia
2019 the Virtual Doctors launches a trial to six sites in Malawi and continues with expansion in Zambia on track to be in 100 sites by the end of the year.
2020 the Virtual Doctors go from strength to strength during the pandemic, further supporting its beneficiaries with its Covid-19 Response and developing a new expansion model, accelerating the spread of the service into a total of 215 sites.
2023: Virtual Doctors service extended to all Provinces of Zambia in 290 health facilities across 42 Districts and 21 health facilities in Malawi in 6 Districts.
Why Choose Us
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