Uganda tests drones to speed up delivery of HIV medicine

Uganda delivers HIV medicine by drone on the archipelago of Lake Victoria. This is a pilot program aimed at improving the transportation of medicines for the health system of countries facing chronic shortages.

The trial is funded by the pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and is run by the Government-run Infectious Diseases Institute. Deliver HIV drugs from hospitals to patients in rural villages of Karangala, an archipelago of 84 islands.

Other African countries like Ghana and Rwanda are already using drones to improve their health care delivery.

Successful clinical trials could be adopted on a larger scale to improve the supply of medicines and medicines to Uganda’s public health system, which faces a shortage of basic medicines such as vaccines and medicines. .. ..

The surge in HIV prevalence in Karangara, estimated at about 27% of the island’s population, is due to nomadic fishermen migrating from one island to another.

Delivery of HIV medicine to the island by boat is often interrupted by storms.

“We are facing a storm problem, medical teams can’t reach here, and some people get the medicines they need,” said Innocent Tushemerilwe, leader of the village health team. I couldn’t do it. ” Reuters..

Rosalind Park Slatansi, director of the Institute’s Academy of Health Innovation and head of research projects, said:

“I thought this might be a cost-effective and safe way to deliver antiretroviral drugs to people living on islands with HIV.”

Drones can fly up to 15 meters per second with wind and heavy rain, but the research team limits this to 5 meters per second, with light to moderate rain for safety.

Drones also reduce delivery times, making it easier to find windows in mild weather.

The DJI M300 Drone is a pilot app by We Robotics, a Swiss-based organization that uses removable white cargo boxes, operating software, and robotics, data, and artificial intelligence to solve problems in more than 30 developing countries. Customized for the program using.

The study program, which currently administers only antiretroviral drugs, will continue until June when it is evaluated. Parkes-Ratanshi said the team is also considering whether the drone can fly around the sample for HIV, tuberculosis, or COVID-19 testing. South Africa Eminetra Today