Global partnership explores use of drones to deliver medical supplies

A global partnership between the UPS Foundation, Zipline and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will investigate the use of drones in delivering vaccines, treatments for infectious diseases and blood supplies in Rwanda, according to a press release.

The partnership utilizes each organization’s expertise, which include health care delivery from UPS, Zipline’s national drone delivery network and Gavi’s experience in increasing the use of vaccines in lower-income countries.

The drones initially will be used to distribute as many as 150 blood supply deliveries per day to 21 transfusing facilities in western Rwanda, the release said. The partners plan to expand the initiative to include vaccines and treatments for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

“The inability to deliver lifesaving medicines to the people who need them most causes millions of preventable deaths each year,” Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline, said in the release. “The work of this partnership will help solve that problem once and for all.”

The project’s launch, supported by an $800,000 grant from UPS, will take place later this year, according to the release.

“With the expertise and vision of UPS, Gavi and Zipline, instant drone delivery will allow us to save thousands of lives in a way that was never before possible,” Rinaudo said in the release.

Disclosure: Rinaudo is the CEO of Zipline.