Introducing Watsi - Healthcare. For every person

As mentioned in our introductory post, we hope to use this platform to share more about how we can work towards achieving our goal of creating a world where healthcare is accessible for all. Today, we'd like to introduce Watsi, a non-profit crowdfunding platform organised by a group located in San Francisco, USA, that is working to provide healthcare for those in need by gathering donations from all around the world.

Watsi's goal is the same as mediPhone's - to "make healthcare a reality for everyone". 
They currently have over 10,000 donators from across the world contributing to their goal by providing funds (at a rate that the donators themselves choose) monthly. These donations are then directly delivered to their patients and all transactions are made transparent through their website. Watsi also have medical partners such as the African Mission Healthcare Program and Floating Doctors that they fund in addition to financial backers and individual contributors who fund Watsi's operational costs. 

mediPhone may currently be limited to providing healthcare support in Japan. However, we hope to introduce other platforms and services such as Watsi that are working towards the same goal yet in a different niche or through a different platform and thus contribute towards improving healthcare access around the world.

To learn more about Watsi, visit: https://watsi.org/

- Jay

Welcome

Welcome to mediPhone's blog, run by mediPhone interns!

Most of you reading this post may be wondering, what's mediPhone? And why does it matter? Well, this post will explain what we do as well as what you can expect from this blog.

WHAT'S MEDIPHONE?
mediPhone is a service provided by the Japan Institute for Global Health for non-Japanese patients in Japan. 

Although the international community in Japan is expanding, with more people from other countries living and travelling in the country, the reality is that there is still a great barrier when it comes to language in Japan, making it difficult for those who aren't natives to have access to certain things such as healthcare. This is where mediPhone comes in. We here at mediPhone are working to make healthcare more accessible in Japan for all, regardless of age, gender or nationality. With the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it is necessary for Japan to prepare itself and become even more capable of taking care of its international community, and we hope to contribute to this through our services.

mediPhone currently provides medical interpreting and translating in 7 different languages whilst also holding seminars for future medical interpreters and medical personnel interested in global health. In the near future, we will be expanding our services to help people access healthcare more conveniently, so please check back for information on updates.

In addition, through this blog, we will also be providing information on global health and how we can help others outside Japan have equal access to healthcare. Although we may be a service located in Japan, there is much that we can do especially with the internet. Please join us in making healthcare accessible to all!

- Jay