UNICEF is currently focused on testing the technology in Malawi, where couriers are commonly used to transport test samples across unreliable roads and infrastructure.
“There are many delays in the continuum of getting HIV positive children on treatment. They need to come in early for testing, ideally before two months, between six and eight weeks, their tests … need to get from the health facilities to one of the eight laboratories nationwide,” Judith Sherman, head of UNICEF Malawi’s HIV and Aids program, told Reuters.
The collaboration recently completed a 10-kilometer trip from a rural community health center to a hospital in the nation’s capital. If the technology ends up being cost-effective, the drones could potentially carry up to 250 test samples at once, according to UNICEF.
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