Your health is your wealth: How Qatar invests in well-being

Since 2017, Qatar has injected more than 6 billion US dollars into its health industry – and that includes supporting startups that are tapping into the latest technology to make healthcare more accessible to all.

Avey is an all-in-one healthcare application.  Created at the Qatar Science and Technology Park, the app was launched by a Qatari start-up in 2017. 

Today, it’s used by more than 1.2 million people in 175 countries. Powered by artificial intelligence, Avey has a self-diagnose function, connects users to doctors all over the world, and is also an online pharmacist.

"So, the idea is that you can say, 'Hey, Avey, I am having a headache today. Can you tell me why?', in speech. Avey is [then] going to translate that speech into text [and provide] a semantic analysis on the text that predicts certain symptoms out of that text and then feed that to the AI diagnostic model," explains Dr Mohammad Hammoud, the founder and CEO of Avey.

It means that as long as a person has a smartphone if they’re not feeling well, they can get access to medical guidance without ever having to step out of the house. Some would say Avey is eliminating the need for physical clinics, but the company says it’s revolutionising healthcare with just a few swipes. 

"Avey can match your case with the most suitable doctor for the case and make the connection between you as a patient and the doctor, prescribe medicine to you. It's the full journey from A to Z," Hammoud says.

Avey is just one of many success stories to come out of QSTP’s innovation and incubation program. The organisation has helped put many ideas and products to market by supporting startups and young entrepreneurs. The partnership continues, and the next step is further scaling up its