A Rwandan First – Medical Drones

Yesterday, while in town visiting a friend, I saw my first drone flying in Nyanza.  I couldn’t contain my excitement when I heard the buzz of a low- and fast-flying drone just overhead.  My friend was nonplussed.  “Oh, that,” she said, “It’s just a drone.  We often see them.  They deliver blood to the Nyanza Hospital.”

I had to learn more.  According to an article in the New Times of Rwanda, the drones are based in a town about an hour’s drive away from Nyanza.  The drones are the result of a partnership between the Government of Rwanda and Zipline, Inc., a California-based “automated logistics company,” to deliver blood to Rwandan hospitals.  Here’s how it works.  The requests for blood are sent to Zipline via a text on WhatsApp.  When Zipline receives a text for blood, it literally buzzes into action, readying the drone for flight.  The drone drops the box containing the blood at the designated hospital, where a hospital worker is waiting to collect it.  Below is a photo from the New Times of Rwanda showing a hospital worker picking up the box that was parachuted from the drone.

Since last October, the drones have made about 2,000 deliveries of blood to 12 hospitals.  Rwanda hopes to increase the number of hospitals served by drones to 21 by the end of 2018.  It is a cost-effective and fast way of delivering blood over long distances.   Although the drones currently deliver only blood, Rwanda is thinking about other medical supplies that drones can deliver.  A Zipline employee explained that Rwanda is the only country in the world using drones in this way.  However, Tanzania (Rwanda’s next door neighbor to the east) and Zipline recently announced that they have partnered to launch an even larger drone delivery service to fly medicine on an emergency basis where needed in Tanzania.

It’s a relief to see drones used for a positive, life-enhancing purpose, instead of for delivering bombs.  Zipline has used its interest in robotics to make a difference in Africans’ lives.  If you are interested in learning more, take a look at this video of Rwanda’s drones.