Tanzania is set to start a drone delivery network in January where drones can be used to transport blood and medicines to accident victims, malaria victims and to women giving birth to avoid loss of lives.
The aim of the drone services is to send medical aid to hospitals or accident scene that requires blood and medicine to keep the victims alive.
Tanzania is larger than Nigeria and four times the size of the United Kingdom, making it hard for the government to ensure all of its 5,000-plus clinics are fully stocked, particularly in remote rural areas.
California’s Zipline will make 2,000 deliveries a day to more than 1,000 health facilities across the east African country, including blood, vaccines and malaria and AIDS drugs, following the success of a smaller project in nearby Rwanda.
Malaria is a major killer in Tanzania and children under the age of five often need blood transfusions when they develop malaria-induced anaemia. If supplies are out of stock, as is often the case with rare blood types, they can die.
