- Title: Through 2016, functional drone use picked up in Africa.
- Date: 2nd January 2017
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NAIROBI UNIVERSITY STUDENT, ARNOLD BETT WORKING ON HIS DRONE, THE OCTOCOPTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT AND ELECTRONICS RESEARCHER, ARNOLD BETT SAYING: "Buying a ready, commercial drone is very expensive and that will mostly range between 5,000 to 6,000 dollars and for us building one, the most probably it will cost us is about 1,000 dollars but on average 500 to a thousand dollars." MUHANGA, RWANDA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TECHNICIAN SETTING UP DRONE ON LAUNCHER DRONE TAKING OFF VARIOUS OF DRONE FLYING IN SKY DRONE FLYING AND DROPPING BLOOD PACKAGE EXTERIOR OF KABGAYI HOSPITAL NURSE PICKING UP PACKAGE VARIOUS OF PATIENTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZIPLINE CEO, KELLER RINAUDO SAYING: "The blood is incredibly, urgently needed and this is a way of getting it to them 10 times faster than we have been able to get it to hospitals in the past." BLOOD SET PACKAGE BEING LOADED ONTO DRONE PEOPLE STANDING NEAR DRONE LAUNCHER
- Embargoed: 17th January 2017 11:30
- Keywords: Drones Unmanned Aerial Vehicles UAVs Survey Transport Blood samples Agriculture
- Location: LILONGWE, MALAWI/ EBOLOWA, CAMEROON/ MWANZA, TANZANIA/ NAIROBI, KENYA/ MUHANGA, RWANDA
- City: LILONGWE, MALAWI/ EBOLOWA, CAMEROON/ MWANZA, TANZANIA/ NAIROBI, KENYA/ MUHANGA, RWANDA
- Country: Various
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0045XDZXAV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Africa continued to embrace use of drones in 2016 to save time and costs in moving vital supplies like blood and vaccines as well as in agricultural research among other projects.
In Malawi a test programme was using drones to improve access to HIV testing for babies.
Screening of HIV in babies requires special lab tests. Lack of proper transport infrastructure and high travel costs means that it can take even two months, to get samples from rural health facilities to equipped labs.
The delays can prevent access to vital antiretroviral treatment.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are meant to help cut down on the time.
The research being run by the UN children's agency, UNICEF was using simulated samples at the time.
"There are many delays in the continuum of getting HIV positive children on treatment, they need to come in early for testing, ideally before 2 months, between 6 and 8 weeks, their tests, the dry bloodspots need to get from the health facilities to one of the 8 laboratories nationwide," said Judith Sherman, the Unicef chief HIV and AIDS programme in Malawi.
In Cameroon, entrepreneur, Mathieu Onguene found a new way to get local tourists to enjoy new sights using drones that capture aerial footage of landmarks and attractions.
Onguene said he had been using drones for years but saw a gap in the tourism market where he could use technology to offer something new to customers.
"My use of drones is mainly to take images of the different parts of the city. Of course we also use it to highlight some of the best tourist sites because seen from above; some of the sites have an even bigger impact on people," said Onguene.
Across the continent in Kenya, we met a university student who built his own drone but was unable to fly it in the country due to regulations restricting use of the technology.
Arnold Bett had already used his drone known as the 'Octocopter' for agricultural research in neighbouring Tanzania at the time.
Kenyan authorities were looking at ways to open up use of drones while still maintaining controls and safety.
Researchers say the Octocopter was able to identify 14 different varieties of sweet potatoes in fields in Mwanza, Tanzania through drone-based remote sensing.
Bett put together his first prototype in 2015 after studying the technology for seven years.
"Buying a ready, commercial drone is very expensive and that will mostly range between 5,000 to 6,000 dollars and for us building one, the most probably it will cost us is about 1,000 dollars but on average 500 to a thousand dollars," he said.
In Rwanda the government and US startup Zipline, launched a delivery service dropping blood bags to 20 remote hospitals.
Lack of road infrastructure together with the mountainous landscape make servicing rural health centers in Rwanda very difficult.
The 13-kilogram (29-pound) drones can make a round trip of 150 km (93 miles).
Rwanda uses about 650,000 units of blood per year, at least half of which goes to mothers who suffer postpartum bleeding and another third for children under the age of five who have malaria-induced anaemia.
"The blood is incredibly, urgently needed and this is a way of getting it to them 10 times faster than we have been able to get it to hospitals in the past," said Zipline CEO, Keller Rinaudo.
The Rwanda scheme is supported by a partnership between Zipline, global logistics company UPS and Gavi, an international vaccine alliance supported by governments and private donors. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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