Can drones save lives?

Read story transcript

Starting this July, unmanned drones will deliver medicine and blood in Rwanda as part of a pilot project

Zipline, a Silicon Valley startup, will be setting up a drone network on behalf of the Rwandan government this summer. It will cover about half the country and will be used to deliver blood, vaccines and other medical supplies.

For many people living in Rwanda, medical help is both tantalizingly close and impossibly far away. The country is tiny about half the size of Nova Scotia but most of its roads are unpaved and often washed out by rain.

At times, it can take hours for essential supplies to reach rural communities when they can reach them at all.

Rwanda isn't the only place looking into drones to improve health care pilot projects are taking place in Canadatoo.

While Canada has already used drones to deliver equipment and help locate people at accident sites, the possibility of providing health care to Canadians in remote communities could allow for faster, cheaper emergency relief.

But experts warn there will be technical and regulatory challenges to overcome if drones are to become a bigger part of our health-care system.

Guests in this segment:

• Keller Rinaudo, CEO ofZipline, which will be launching a drone health care project in Rwanda this summer.
• Philip Reece,CEO of InDro Robotics.
• Greg Ross, associate dean of research at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
  

This segment was produced by The Current's Sarah Grant and HamutalDotan.