Public health services for developing countries has been enhanced, thanks to the SATMED solution that was developed by SES Techcom Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, funded by the Luxembourg Government.

Multiple applications and tools are integrated on a single platform over satellite broadband services, and the latest such implementation by SES S.A., the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the German Doctors NGO is SATMED in the Philippines, being deployed at the German Doctors' hospital in Buda, Marilog District, Davao City. This implementation will allow German Doctors to enhance healthcare provision and deliver accessible e-health services to remote communities on the island of Mindanao.

The new SATMED solution deployed in Central Mindanao will enable German Doctors to provide better quality healthcare services when they visit remote villages. Using SATMED, teams can use portable devices, such as tablets, to collect the patients’ data. The collected data is then processed, aggregated and synchronized securely on SATMED’s cloud platform, with text messaging support that allows 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 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.

SATMED Philippines deployment network illustration for the German Doctors NGO.

Dietmar Schug, Managing Director of German Doctors indicated that more than 200,000 people are living within the catchment area of the Buda Community Health Care Centre, with approximately half of those coming from the indigenous population who often have no access to medical care and whose lives are below the poverty line. As his NGO is committed to improving healthcare services for local communities, the medical personnel must confront poor terrestrial connectivity in rural locations. This lack of connectivity poses substantial obstacles in analyzing and monitoring patients’ health problems, accessing medical records, providing follow up of care, and managing other areas of outreach. SATMED and its suite of medical applications opens up healthcare possibilities and boosts the NGO's efforts in making accessible, quality healthcare a reality for these remote communities.”

According to Glen Tindall, Vice President of Sales, Asia-Pacific at SES, the implementation of SATMED—through satellite connectivity—makes digital imaging, e-learning and consultation and other e-health solutions all available to local medical communities.