SatMed in Benin. Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 06-09-2016] SES has deployed a SatMed e-health platform at Centre de Dépistage et de traitement de l’Ulcère de Buruli (CDTUB) in Allada, Benin, to improve awareness and healthcare. Fondation Follereau Luxembourg (FFL) will use the satellite-based platform to communicate with doctors and medical experts around the world, access online training tools, and establish facilities such as video conferencing, data collection and analysis. The deployment is part of FFL’s efforts to establish a consultation office at CDTUB — which treated more than 700 patients in 2015 — to improve communication between patients and medical staff, raising further awareness of tropical diseases.

SES subsidiary SES Techcom Services created the SatMed e-health platform, for which the Luxembourg government and the Ministry for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action provide funding. The first deployment of SatMed in Benin successfully took place at the remote maternity hospital of Ahozonnoude in June 2014.

“We are pleased to partner with SES for this important project, which will allow early detection of symptoms in patients, significantly improving treatment and recovery rate,” said Violaine Alves, project manager at FFL. “Buruli Ulcer is often hard to detect by untrained people, particularly by the patients themselves or their parents, so raising awareness in the community with SatMed will be of utmost benefit.”