Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 06-04-2015] SATMED, the medical component of Luxembourg’s emergency.lu recovery platform, has been deployed at the Maternité Hospital in Ahozonnoude, Benin to improve childbirth healthcare. The eHealth platform uses SES satellite Internet connectivity to operate as a remote consultation and monitoring tool, providing effective communications between the maternity hospital in Ahozonnoude, the hospital in capital Cotonou, and a third hospital unit in Allada.

In Benin, the eHealth system provides the only effective communication link between the three units since the routes are often inaccessible due to flooding during the rainy season. Additional remote training is to be delivered online, enabling midwives and health workers in training to have their performance monitored and evaluated by an assigned physician. Carried out in conjunction with Fondation Follereau Luxembourg (FFL), the installation aims to improve mother-child health during the delivery and aftercare of childbirth, as well as to assist in the general aim of improving medical knowledge via remote consultation and monitoring facilities.