Lifebank, a Nigerian medical delivery startup, has announced that it has commenced the delivery of medical supplies through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) known as drones.

Temie Giwa-Tubosun, the founder and CEO of LifeBank made this disclosure at the sidelines of the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative held in Accra, Ghana. The startup was rewarded with $250,000 for winning the Prize powered by the Ma Foundation. Giwa-Tubosun said the decision to add drones to their mobility fleet was to get blood to patients in places that are hard to reach.

At the event, Giwa-Tubosun spoke about LifeBank’s findings while researching the best situations to use drones for blood delivery.

She said: “After running our operations for three years we knew that there were some patients we could not reach on time. Like areas where there are bandits on the road so we need to fly.” According to her, the drones will only supply blood in emergency situations where patients are hard to reach.
LifeBank partnered with the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), the Ethiopian government agency tasked with exploring technology, to successfully test run drone delivery in Ethiopia in October.

Beyond Ethiopia, LifeBank’s drone delivery services will also be tested and launched in other regions including Nigeria.

The introduction of drone delivery by LifeBank, will no doubt further boost its business and operation of medical delivery and help it cover areas where motorbikes and boats ordinarily cannot access.

https://www.techawk.com.ng/2019/11/19/lifebank-commences-drone-delivery/

Nice