YouTube expands its health push in the UAE by putting doctors in front of the camera

Amid the rapid changes that have been seen online in recent years, apps and social media spaces have shape-shifted into unrecognisable products. But YouTube has remained loyal to its original premise, while staying ahead of the curve.

In a conversation with The National, Pedro Pina, YouTube’s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, reflected on the way relationships the brand has built with its creators have given it a unique advantage in drawing in big audiences.

Now the platform is recognising its growing responsibility to provide reliable information in underserved areas of the internet.

Pina visited Abu Dhabi last month to launch a new initiative YouTube Health at the Cleveland Clinic, which he describes as a significant milestone for the platform. “People turn to YouTube with urgent questions,” he says. “When it comes to health, we realised that while text-based search offers credible references, the video ecosystem simply didn’t have enough high-quality information.”

Rather than waiting for an ecosystem to build on the platform, they have collaborated with global institutions such as the World Health Organisation and Mayo Clinic. Inviting established professionals to become content creators. “We reached out to a bunch of doctors to ask them: ‘Would you like to be a YouTuber?’” Pina says, “We now have doctors in a lot of countries, fully licensed and fully operative, producing content and answering questions on YouTube channels.”

It's a move which has been welcomed, Dr Harpreet Sood the co-founder and medical director of Skai Health, tells The National how important platforms such as YouTube can be in educating people.

"It is an important distribution channel and very useful to engage, build an audience and reach many people.