SES Deploys SATMED e-Health Platform in Benin to Improve Treatment of Infectious Tropical Disease

SES S.A. announced the deployment of 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.

The SATMED e-health platform was conceived by SES Techcom Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES, and is funded by the Luxembourg Government and the Ministry for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action. The first deployment of SATMED in Benin successfully took place at the remote maternity hospital of Ahozonnoude in June 2014.

The new satellite-based platform in Allada will be used by Fondation Follereau Luxembourg (FFL) 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.

“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.”

SES Techcom Services CEO Gerhard Bethscheider added, “SATMED has already been deployed at a number of locations across Africa to improve the speed and quality of healthcare services. In remote locations such as CDTUB, satellite is often the only means of providing consistent communication between sites, and we are proud to have been able to provide our solution to FFL in Allada.”