Satmed in Niger. Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 04-22-2016] SES is deploying Satmed, a satellite-based e-health platform, at the Cure Hospital for Children in Niger, to enhance healthcare in rural and remote regions in Niger. Satmed will enable the hospital to establish communications with national and international doctors to receive medical counseling. Using satellite, experts can remotely diagnose patients from thousands of miles away, doctors and nurses can improve their knowledge through online courses or life sessions, and lives can be saved through easy access to necessary information available anywhere via the Internet.

SES Techcom Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES, came up with Satmed, which the Luxembourg Government and the Ministry for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action provide with funding. The satellite-based communication solution aims to improve public health in developing countries by enabling multiple medical applications and tools to operate collectively on a single platform.

“Our participation in the Satmed program will help us better serve our patients, as we seek to offer them healing and hope for a better future,” said Josh Korn, executive director at Cure Niger.

The Cure Hospital for Children in Niger specializes in the surgical treatment of children with disabilities. These children suffer from a variety of different orthopedic and congenital conditions, such as clubfoot, cleft lip and burn contractures. Since the hospital opened in October 2010, doctors have performed more than 3,000 surgeries and 10,000 patient consultations, both at the hospital and in mobile clinics throughout the country.

“Thanks to satellite technology, we are now in a position to assist in improving both the speed and quality of healthcare services in rural and remote regions, contributing to change on a much wider scale,” said Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, SVP of SES commercial in Africa.