Drones Now Set To Carry Condoms And Other Health Facilities In Africa
Faustina Fynn-Nyame, who works with the reproductive health care nonprofit Marie Stopes International shared the story of a mother in rural Ghana who only wanted four children but got seven.
She told the story during the Women Deliver Conference this week in Copenhagen, Denmark.
"She was let down by the community, the government and us," And there are millions of women like this Ghanaian mom, unable to get access to contraception .... Fynn-Nyame told the audience.
A group of public health experts came up with an idea during a brainstorm session two years ago. "But what if you could use drones to transport contraception and life-saving medicines to the world's most remote places?"
She told the story during the Women Deliver Conference this week in Copenhagen, Denmark.
"She was let down by the community, the government and us," And there are millions of women like this Ghanaian mom, unable to get access to contraception .... Fynn-Nyame told the audience.
A group of public health experts came up with an idea during a brainstorm session two years ago. "But what if you could use drones to transport contraception and life-saving medicines to the world's most remote places?"
A group of Public health experts, Local health authorities and Private-sector partners mastered on the idea in 2014 when trying to figure out ways to improve access to contraception for women in the hardest-to-reach areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
The W.H.O (World Health Organization) estimates that 225 million women in developing countries would like to delay or stop having children but had no access to reliable birth control methods.
Because access to birth control, reproductive health information and other services for women of childbearing age is a massive problem in this region, as fewer than 20 percent of women use modern contraceptives.
Where The Drone Played A Part.
According to npr.org "Late November of last year, an unmanned, automated machine with a wingspan of about 50 inches carried about 4.5 pounds of supplies like condoms and birth control pills, as well as life-saving drugs like oxytocin, which prevents hemorrhaging during childbirth, to parts of Ghana."
The drone is said to cover larger distances quickly and can take off and land without a runway. And its main goal is to travel about 60 miles in an hour Flown by a pilot who's stationed in a nearby health care facility, it then unloads its delivery to the programmed spot in the village designated for dropping off health products.
The drone proves more useful when a health care worker tried to do the same job by motorcycle or truck and it took several hours at best. Added to its demerit is the poor roads coupled with bad weather conditions which could make the route unachievable.
Though the project is still in its pilot phase. Experts are yet to get the cost-benefit of the drone program before setting it up nationally in Ghana and expanding it to other sub-Saharan African countries.....
Though they're faced with issues like terrain challenges e.g dust, which makes it hard for the pilot to see where the drone is headed. A second prototype is being developed with this issue in mind.
The idea of using drones for health care delivery is improving as Malawi started testing the use of drones to speed up the time it takes to fly blood samples from infants to test for HIV.
The W.H.O (World Health Organization) estimates that 225 million women in developing countries would like to delay or stop having children but had no access to reliable birth control methods.
Because access to birth control, reproductive health information and other services for women of childbearing age is a massive problem in this region, as fewer than 20 percent of women use modern contraceptives.
Where The Drone Played A Part.
According to npr.org "Late November of last year, an unmanned, automated machine with a wingspan of about 50 inches carried about 4.5 pounds of supplies like condoms and birth control pills, as well as life-saving drugs like oxytocin, which prevents hemorrhaging during childbirth, to parts of Ghana."
The drone is said to cover larger distances quickly and can take off and land without a runway. And its main goal is to travel about 60 miles in an hour Flown by a pilot who's stationed in a nearby health care facility, it then unloads its delivery to the programmed spot in the village designated for dropping off health products.
The drone proves more useful when a health care worker tried to do the same job by motorcycle or truck and it took several hours at best. Added to its demerit is the poor roads coupled with bad weather conditions which could make the route unachievable.
Though the project is still in its pilot phase. Experts are yet to get the cost-benefit of the drone program before setting it up nationally in Ghana and expanding it to other sub-Saharan African countries.....
Though they're faced with issues like terrain challenges e.g dust, which makes it hard for the pilot to see where the drone is headed. A second prototype is being developed with this issue in mind.
The idea of using drones for health care delivery is improving as Malawi started testing the use of drones to speed up the time it takes to fly blood samples from infants to test for HIV.
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