The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses in healthcare provision infrastructure in many countries, including South Africa. During the last two years, ease of access to healthcare became a vital determinant of people’s experiences of the virus, and their chances of recovery if they fell sick.
While cities and larger towns tend to have better facilities, residents in rural areas can find themselves far from the care they needed. In many parts of South Africa, clinics and hospitals have only basic facilities, and reaching them can involve long, arduous journeys. Fortunately, modern technology now offers the possibility of bringing medical advice and care to people at a fraction of the cost, and in far less time.
The rapidly developing field of telemedicine uses communications technology to connect patients to clinicians without the need for them to physically meet. Although it can be used as a replacement for conventional consultations, telemedicine is at its most powerful when it is integrated with patient visits to clinics or hospitals and remote diagnostic equipment, all recorded and linked to their medical histories.
This recognition has been a key pillar in the system being developed by the University of Pretoria Medical School in collaboration with the Northern Cape Department of Health, to give rural residents access to regional specialists.
The most significant challenge faced when deploying this innovative telemedicine solution was the lack of reliable communications systems in many of the locations that most needed improved access to medical services.
In the absence of fibre and mobile connectivity, only Smart Satellite Services could provide the necessary speed and bandwidth to enable seamless video and voice calls while offering other forms of specialist communication required for the clinicians to be able to interact with and diagnose patients. The proven advantages of satellite broadband include always-on, everywhere availability, off-grid functionality (including compatibility with renewable energy sources such as solar) and no terrestrial infrastructure requirements.
The University of Pretoria partnered with Satellite Communication, whose field engineering teams were responsible for closing the loop by installing the initial project set-up in the remote community of Port Nolloth in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.
The technical experts from Satellite Communication used Twoobii Smart Satellite Services to implement a cost-effective means of delivering rapid, affordable connectivity, backed by exceptional quality of service and a commitment to aftersales technical assistance, should it be required.
“We can deliver quality medical services to our most vulnerable members of the community, timeously and cost effectively,” comments Anthony Glass of Satellite Communications, referring to the ease with which telemedicine services could be delivered via Twoobii’s satellite connectivity.
“At Q-KON Africa, we pride ourselves on the quality of the service we provide, in terms of fast, reliable satellite broadband,” says Dawie de Wet, CEO of Q-KON Africa, the company behind Twoobii. “We are committed to helping more and more people across Africa benefit from satellite connectivity solutions, and nothing is more important than using our technology to ensure the health and wellbeing of people living in disadvantaged communities.
“With Twoobii Smart Satellite Services, real-time telemedicine can become a reality for rural residents, with the distance from their villages to a hospital now measured in fractions of a second, rather than hours or days,” he adds.