Liquid Telecom has conneted the Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Nairobi to Dadaab refugee complex with high-speed broadband communication network. This connectivity will ensure tele-medicine to the refugess living in four camps in Dadaab.
This is an act of appreciation to the whole team of Liquid Telecom that involved beginning from the management to the field staff. Refugee camps are forgotten places but a reality in many of the developing countries. Extending a helping hand, whether it is in the form of food, money, clothes, shelter or medical aid, is a divine act. Since the remote place is connected with the medical centers in the Nairobi, the doctors can reach to the medical assistants in the camp and provide necessary advises.
Liquid Telecom Kenya is part of the leading pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom, The community of approximately 250,000 refugees across four camps almost 500km away from the hospital now has access to dedicated healthcare including consultations, diagnostics and treatment over the internet. Telemedicine is one of the advantages of high-speed broadband over fiber optic cables. Optical connectivity provides uninterrupted video and voice service from medical centers to the remote camps.
Providing medical services to the quarter of a million refugees at Dadaab’s four camps has been inhibited by the absence of specialists in the remote semi-arid area. Liquid Telecom provides a 15Mbps connection at the hospital in Nairobi headquarters and a 2Mbps connection at Dadaab sub-county hospital. The provider enabled the largest paediatric centre in East and Central Africa to deliver advanced treatment directly to Dadaab.
The link to Dadaab has enabled the hospital to successfully treat more than 56 patients so far. The hospital staff said that when they get a call from Dadaab requesting time and input from our specialists, the ICT department notifies the relevant doctor and then schedules a virtual consultation using video conferencing equipment across Liquid Telecom’s network.
The hospital in Nairobi is also offering telemedicine services in Mombasa, Sekenani (Narok County) and Kibera in Nairobi and will soon deploy the services to the Mara.
Telemedicine
With the advancement of telecommunication technologies, applications such as telemedicine, distant education, etc has become more popular. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technology to provide clinical health care from a common service center to multiple remote centers. Practical conditions in some ares do not allow frequent travel of health care staff to the patients. Thus telemedicine has been used to overcome distance barriers and to improve access to medical services. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations. Telemedicine is particularly helpful to the rural population.
With the developments in optical technologies, high-speed broadband delivery services has become cheaper and affordable. Telemedicine permits communication between patient and medical staff with both convenience and fidelity. Images and medical reports can also be viewed in wide screen in front of both medical staff and patient. Instructions can be sent to the patient’s computer.
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