Elon Musks Starlink service brings fast internet to fifteen African countries since last year‚ changing how people get medical help in far-away places. Local internet companies started a price-war to keep up with this space-based service
The tech brings real change to healthcare: doctors can now see patients through video calls with super-clear quality. In Zimbabwe (which joined the network about 10 months ago) the BatsiHealth platform connects sick people to doctors online
Starlink provides the fast‚ low-latency connectivity that virtual consultations need for real-time telepresence on BatsiHealth
Zimbabweʼs health system was once great in the 80s but its been having problems for about twenty years. The countrys economy got bad when Robert Mugabe took farms from white owners which led to world-wide problems
The space-internet works through thousands of low-flying satellites that float 300 miles up. Even though its not cheap‚ the service has more than 2.6m users world-wide and its sold-out in many big African cities like:
- Nairobi
- Abuja
- Accra
- Lusaka
- Harare
When you connect hospitals and clinics to high-speed internet‚ it means that doctors from anywhere in the world can collaborate; this can be the difference between a life being saved and a life being lost