admin
GABORONE. — A collaborative project in Botswana is getting essential and emergency healthcare products to remote communities quickly by using drones.
The problem of healthcare access is one that governments and NGOs the world over have been trying to solve for decades. In many places, delivery by car is too slow, by helicopter too expensive. Now, in Botswana, a potential solution is being tested.
The Drones for Health project is a collaboration between the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), the United Nations Population Fund, and Dutch drone company Avy. Launched in May of this year at the BIUST campus in Palapye, the pilot project aims to demonstrate how drones can expedite delivery of essential and emergency medical supplies to far-flung communities.
Initially operating between the towns of Lecheng, Mokgware, Moremi and Mogapi in eastern Botswana, the project will run for several years before the decision on country-wide deployment is made. The results are already promising, with delivery times reduced by up to 65 percent in some instances, compared with traditional access.
It’s a field in which Avy has considerable experience. Driven by an ethos of using drones for good, the company offers a fully integrated drone service to the medical and emergency services industries. In partnership with the Dutch Medical Drone Service, Avy has been testing pick-up and transport of medical supplies in the Netherlands for some time. – Airmedandrescue.com
Online Reporter