Uganda tests drones to speed up delivery of HIV medicine

Uganda tests drones to speed up delivery of HIV medicine

KALANGALA, Uganda, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Uganda is conveying HIV medication by drone in an archipelago in Lake Victoria, an experimental run program planning to work on the vehicle of medical supplies for the country's wellbeing framework, which faces constant deficiencies.

The preliminary is financed by drug organization Johnson and Johnson (JNJ.N), and run by the public authority run Infectious Diseases Institute. It conveys HIV drugs from an emergency clinic to patients in provincial villas in Kalangala, an 84-island-archipelago.

Other African nations like Ghana and Rwanda are as of now utilizing robots to further develop medical services conveyance.

Assuming the preliminary is fruitful it could be embraced for a bigger scope to assist with further developing conveyance of medications and clinical supplies for Uganda's public medical services framework, which faces under-staffing and deficiencies of essential meds like immunizations and different medications just as clinical supplies.

Kalangala's taking off HIV rate, assessed at around 27% of the populace on the islands, is incompletely a direct result of travelling anglers who move starting with one island then onto the next.

Conveyances of HIV medications to the islands by boat are frequently upset by storms.

An overall view shows inhabitants strolling close to their homes at the Kusu town, in Kalangala area, Uganda December 3, 2021. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa

Understand More

"We have been confronting a test of wind storms ... the clinical groups would not make it here and certain individuals would wind up not getting their truly necessary clinical supplies," Innocent Tushemerirwe, a town wellbeing group pioneer, told Reuters.

Rosalind Parkes-Ratanshi, the overseer of the Academy for Health Innovation at the establishment and top of the examination project, said: "The boats are extravagant and they are additionally extremely perilous, there are loads of drownings in Kalangala."

"We felt that this might be a financially savvy and a protected method of conveying antiretroviral medication to individuals living on the islands with HIV."

The robots can fly in breezes of up to 15 meters each second and weighty downpour, albeit the examination group is limiting this to 5 meters each second and light and medium to rain to be protected.

The robots additionally accelerate conveyance times so it is simpler to track down windows of quiet climate

The DJI M300 drones were redone for the program with separable white freight boxes, activity programming and a steering application by WeRobotics, a Swiss-settled association that utilizes mechanical technology, information and man-made consciousness to take care of issues in excess of 30 agricultural nations.

The preliminary program, which for the present is conveying just antiretrovirals, will go on until June when it will be surveyed. Parkes-Ratanshi said the group is additionally thinking about whether the robots could zoom around tests for HIV, tuberculosis or COVID-19 testing.

What do you think about the idea of Uganda using drones for HIV drug delivery??

 Let's find out from you guys what you think about this :)