Drones have long been associated as destructive forces, or irritating travel-blogger gadgets disturbing the most peaceful settings around the world. In Colombia they have also been used in the controversial spraying of illegal coca plantations. However, the technology does have many socially enriching applications too.
Aeronautical engineer Daniel Salamanca launched NUBA Aerospace in 2015, to address problems within the health sector relating to mobility in Cali, Colombia. Some areas of Colombia, due to poor road conditions, lack of infrastructure, mountainous landscapes and extremes in the weather, are challenged with a desperate situation – citizens are unable to receive vital medication and emergency healthcare.
The tech company developed the project AirMed, with the aim to develop drone prototypes to transport medicine and blood samples between a main hospital and rural health centres. Red de Salud de Ladera, a network of hospitals and public health centres in the Valle del Cauca, a department in the south east of Colombia, obtained permission from the Minister of Health to use drones to transport blood samples to laboratories and medicine to patients in rural areas. Then, in 2016, Red de Salud de Ladera, gave NUBA Aerospace money to develop a more sophisticated drone.
This is the first project of its kind to be launched in Colombia. In other parts of the world similar projects have been tested. In 2017 the Government of Malawi and UNICEF opened the first testing corridor for humanitarian use of drones. This is the only space in the world specifically dedicated to humanitarian and development uses for drones, and the only testing space in Africa. The corridor has a 40 kilometre radius and allows operations up to 400 metres above ground level. Applications have been welcomed from industry, universities, and individuals to test a potential use case in one of the three main areas:
1) Imagery – generating and analysing aerial images for development and during a humanitarian crises, including for situation monitoring in floods and earthquakes.
2) Connectivity – exploring the possibility for unmanned aerial vehicles to extend Wi-Fi or cell phone signals across difficult terrain, particularly in emergencies.
3) Transport – delivery of small, low weight supplies such as emergency medical supplies, vaccines and samples for laboratory diagnosis, including for HIV testing.
All projects accepted into the corridor were approved on the following principles – they should be open data, shareable, designed for scale and not for military or defence purposes.
The project initiated by Nuba Aerospace and the Red de Salud de Ladera could ultimately help improve the standard of care for an estimated 20,000 people living in the area around Cali. The drones are currently being developed to deliver blood, stool and urine samples, and organs, however, there are many other potential applications.
Below is a video in Spanish describing the AirMed project:
The video report above points out some of the huge advantage of using drones instead of land vehicles: drone flights are much cheaper to operate and maintain than land vehicles; they are much faster – a drone can travel six or seven kilometres in 14 minutes, the same route might take two hours with a land vehicle. The current AirMed prototype can carry up to two kilograms and travel at a speed of 10 meters per second, which is around two minutes per kilometre.
*Controversial spraying of illegal coca plantations: Colombia suspended the use of drone aerial spraying of coca crops in 2015 after concerns arose about the alleged carcinogenic effects of glyphosate — a powerful herbicide that’s widely used in agriculture and is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. In June 2018, the Colombian government announced it would resume the program of aerial fumigation.
Further Information
NUBA Aerospace is a company that develops and produces drones for industrial and logistic use. The company is specialised in providing aerial solutions in different Colombian industries: healthcare, agriculture and GIS (geographic information system) – gathering, managing and analysing data.
www.nuba-aerospace.com
YT: /nubadrones I: @nubaerospace FB: /nubaaerospace
Red de Salud de Ladera is a Cali based social enterprise of the State. It was founded in 2003, with the objective of decentralising the provision heath services in the municipality. The network of companies was created with the purpose of facilitating the poor and vulnerable population to public heath services, to improve coverage, and achieve greater efficiency in the services. The social enterprise provides healthcare to the rural areas outside of the city, with an aim is to contribute to the reduction of health inequities.
www.saludladera.gov.co
I: @comunicacioneseseladera YT: /Reddesaluddeladera T: @RedSaludLadera FB: /ESELadera
Main article image shows an AirMed drone carrying a medical package ©Daniel Salamanca
