Offering free medical advice via Snapchat by Saudi doctor on one condition

Saudi doctor Khaled al-Tawala, an internal medicine specialist at King Khalid Hospital in the city of Hail, is dedicating three hours a day on Snapchat to help patients who cannot go to hospitals.

He provides them with free medical consultations, but insists that in exchange, his patients donate a box of water bottles to those in need.

The initiative was positively met by many patients as around 200 people are seeking the doctor’s advice daily.
Tawala said he did not expect his initiative to become popular, noting that the turnout shows there is a need for more initiatives like this.
He explained that he chose Snapchat in order to keep up with popular trends. He believes the platform currently meets the needs of many Saudi users.
Tawala is working on gathering all the medical advice he’s provided and upload the snaps on a YouTube channel so everyone can benefit from them especially that there are many recurrent cases.
As to why he asks people to donate a box of water in exchange for his advice, he said people are not obliged to donate, but world prefer if they did.
Tawala said there are several initiatives by institutions and charity organizations in the field of medical treatment, noting, however, that the society must also work on empowering individual initiatives.
He also said that Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 encourages volunteer work and called on his colleagues to volunteer and contribute to improving the society.