Rwanda Implements Ground-Breaking Medical Drone Technology

Rwandan President Kagame watches on as a drone prepares to launch during the official Rwanda-Zipline partnership ceremony.

Rwanda announced a new project in October that will use drone technology to deliver life-saving medical supplies to rural hospitals. The Rwandan Ministry of Health has announced its new partnership with Zipline, a drone startup company based in Silicon Valley, California. Known as “The Land of Thousand Hills,” Rwanda’s challenging terrain has prevented past efforts to establish easy access to essential medical supplies.

This ambitious project aims to lessen that burden by using unmanned aerial vehicles to drop medical supplies, primarily blood, by parachute to a designated hospital within 30 minutes from departure. The project was introduced on October 14 to serve Rwanda’s Muhanga district, with plans to branch out to additional locations starting next year. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has praised the use of new medical technology, saying that "technology becomes relevant and meaningful when it works for people and addresses challenges they face."

One primary goal of this operation is to reduce the frequency of postpartum hemorrhaging, the leading cause of death for pregnant women in Rwanda. This issue arises largely from the inadequate and limited supply of various blood types in rural hospitals. In dire medical emergencies, it takes up to four hours to deliver a specific type of blood, often arriving too late. With this innovative technology, that delivery time could be cut to 15 minutes. Zipline is the team responsible for the project.

Zipline hopes that this project can show the world the potential of drone technology in saving lives, as opposed to its common use of ending them. One of the most impressive aspects of the project is that it is launching in Rwanda, a country that only two decades ago was in the midst of one the most deadly genocides in history. Zipline spokesman Justin Hamilton expressed the promising potential of the project, stating, “The whole world is going to be looking at Rwanda.” This project will place Rwanda ahead of the United States as the first country to establish a commercial drone delivery network.

This new technology is expected to make around 150 deliveries per day, with drones able to fly at around 81 miles per hour. The planned models are shaped like miniature airplanes, with a wingspan of only two meters and a weight of 29 pounds. Each drone can hold up to three pounds, roughly equating to three bags of blood. The drones are fired into the air with the use of catapults, navigating the skiesusing GPS receivers and communicating via Rwandan cellular networks.

This incredible technology could increase Rwanda’s medical efficiency immensely and save numerous lives. The success of this project could allow for the use of medical drones to soar past the hills of Rwanda and provide life-saving supplies to developing countries across the world.