This Startup is Fixing Health Care...in KabulAlemHealth was built in a war zone. Its founder is thankful for that.

Aschkan Abdul-Malek had come to Afghanistan to solve problems. He was working for a consulting firm, and in 2013 was helping the World Bank study healthcare constraints in developing countries. One day, as he was home talking to his cook, he learned how personally devastating the healthcare problem could be: The cook was spending six times his annual income to fly his wife to India for medical care, because she couldn't find the doctor she needed at home. Many Afghans were in similar positions: Despite an average annual income of about $680, locals spend nearly $300 million a year on what's called medical tourism.

Abdul-Malek wondered if he could fix this.