SES pilots satellite e-health program in Philippines

Satellite operator SES, the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the non-governmental organization (NGO) German Doctors have launched the satellite-based e-health platform SATMED in the Philippines.

The solution was deployed at the German Doctors’ hospital in Buda, Marilog District in Davao City.

SATMED can improve public health in developing countries by integrating medical applications and tools on a single platform over satellite broadband services. The solution was developed by SES Techcom Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES, and is funded by the Luxembourg government.

The new SATMED solution deployed in Central Mindanao will enable German Doctors to use portable devices such as tablets to collect the patients’ data, which will be processed, aggregated and synchronized securely on SATMED’s cloud platform.

A text messaging functionality will allow doctors to keep tabs on large groups of patients living in remote villages, whose main form of contact with the outside world is through mobile phones.

SATMED will also enable German Doctors to communicate with doctors and medical experts around the world via video conferencing. Training of local medical professionals via SATMED’s e-learning solutions will be another opportunity.

“The implementation of SATMED, through satellite connectivity, makes digital imaging, e-learning and consultation, and other e-health solutions, available to the local medical community,” said Glen Tindall, Vice President of Sales, Asia-Pacific at SES.

Dietmar Schug, Managing Director of German Doctors, said that poor terrestrial connectivity in rural locations poses obstacles in analyzing and monitoring patients’ health problems, accessing their medical records and providing follow-up care.

“More than 200,000 people are living within the catchment area of the Buda Community Health Care Center – about half of those coming from the indigenous population, who often have no access to medical care and whose lives are below the poverty line,” he said.

“SATMED and its suite of medical applications opens up healthcare possibilities and boosts our efforts in making accessible, quality healthcare a reality for these remote communities.”