Drones beat logistical challenges to delivery of medical supplies in Kenya

Bad weather and poor roads can make getting life-saving drugs to remote parts of Kenya a challenge.

Now, a company is taking to the skies with drones to deliver medical supplies to those in need and doing it more quickly.

"Rains actually make access to these facilities via traditional modes of delivery very daunting," said Samuel Sineka, pharmacist and Partnership Director of Zipline.

"We are able to overcome these barriers, leveraging aerial logistics to serve people, even when they are not able to access essential commodities via traditional ground transport."

In Kisumu County, a drone carrying HIV drugs and testing kits is heading to a remote village where a football match is taking place, an outreach event supported by Zipline.

While HIV prevalence in Kenya among adults aged 15 to 49 has declined from 9.1 per cent in 2000 to 4.3 per cent in 2021, Kisumu remains a hotspot for youth infections.

"HIV patients need to take their medicines every day at a particular time, failure to do so can lead to viral resistance," said Sineka.

The company’s drones make a real difference to them by delivering medication to patients within 15 to 45 minutes.

With the game still going on, a Zipline drone soars overhead before dropping a package filled with condoms and HIV testing kits.

These are urgently needed supplies that help healthcare workers like Rachel Oyugi fight the spread of the virus.

"Most of them are coming in the name of watching football. They enter into the tent, have their services and they go home, treated well," said Oyugi.

"At facility level, the whole year, we can receive only 10 youths or 15 youths coming for HIV testing and other services. But here at the event, we can receive 40 or 50 in a day," she said.

By the end of the match, scores of young people have been tested, received life-saving sex education, and been supplied with contraceptives.

Meanwhile, the Zipline drone is long since back at the base, ready for another mission to remote villages in this part of Kenya.