Afghanistan Calling

Available for over a year

How a former Afghan child refugee is now breaking medical boundaries. We travel to Afghanistan to learn about the life of Waheed Arian. It’s a story of how one man defied the odds to get to the top of his profession – and how he chose to put his career on hold to help people back in his home country. Dr Arian fled the war in Afghanistan at the age of 15 and travelled to London. He won a place at Cambridge University and studied medicine, qualifying as a doctor. Just two years from becoming a consultant in radiology, he chose to take a career break so he could help those back home. He’s established a network of around one hundred volunteer doctors and consultants in the West, who give free advice to hospitals in war zones. His network gives advice by text, What’s App, Skype and email to major hospitals in Afghanistan and now to some hospitals in Syria. Waheed has plans to expand into Kashmir, Iraq and parts of Africa. We listen in as for the first time he experiments with helping Afghan colleagues via virtual reality. Producer: Stephanie Constantine and Ged Clarke. (Photo: Waheed and Davina Arian at Afghanistan refugee camp. Credit: Arian Teleheal)