The collaborative effort between the Luxembourg government and SES will be extended until 2024, with costs estimated to be €6 million. According to a recent press release, hundreds of thousands of people have already benefited from the first phase of the SATMED project.
The second phase of the programme will thus allow the Luxembourgish company to continue its digital medical support in isolated countries. Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Franz Fayot elaborated: “The medical services will help local non-profit organisations, as is for instance done in Bangladesh. Due to the country’s numerous rivers, many regions have to rely on hospital ships for medical services. The satellites can help those ships communicate.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 730,000 people have used the services of the partner non-profit “Friendship Bangladesh”, which is part of the SATMED programme. Director Runa Khan noted: “This is a poor country, and medical expenses per person are only set at €0.36. In comparison, the rate in Europe lies at €3,600. So it is clear that we rely on the aid of foreign programmes to increase local medical support. SATMED does just that.”
Minister Fayot further conveyed that the success of the initiative has made its rounds by now, with notable interest from United Nations agencies: “Naturally, with Covid-19, the need for such programmes has risen. We see that telemedecine is becoming increasingly important, which is why we need to continue with our initiative.”
