The Kisumu County Government in partnership with Zipline company, a US firm, has introduced drones to deliver medical supplies to city residents.
Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o stated the program would use its autonomous aircraft technology to reach the furthest ends of the region.
Early in February, Zipline invested Ksh 150 million in the establishment of an operation and distribution hub in Kisumu.
Air delivery of medical supplies will see that residents have access to healthcare necessities for life-threatening diseases such as cancer in Kisumu which has a high cancer disease burden among other counties according to Nyong’o.
Health facilities are expected to make orders to the operation hub via emails, text messages or WhatsApp and deliveries will be made within 45 minutes covering a distance of 80 Km.
Kisumu has joined countries in the continent like Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast in embracing drone medical deliveries.
During the Kisumu gubernatorial debate on Wednesday, the governor told the media that drones would also be used in other sectors like agriculture.
“Among others, we will leverage this new technology to improve our productivity in agriculture by enabling genetic improvement of local breeds at the animal reproduction centre in Chemelil,” he said.
The governor noted that the program would be rolled out in the next two weeks. It is expected that will also boost food security and enhance the county’s production of milk and meat.
Additionally, the hub in Chemelil will also be used to transport fertilizers. When the pilot phase is successful, more hubs will be set up in surrounding counties according to the US firm.
“Kisumu will act as a pilot for the lake region before the partnership is scaled up to cover the other counties serving up to 1,250 health facilities,” Zipline Senior Vice President for Africa Daniel Marfo announced.
