Zipline drones and the quest to reduce HIV infections in Kenya
We know it does not directly solve the problem of removing stigma among people affected and infected by HIV and AIDS in the Kenyan county of Kisumu; but while healthcare authorities and related professionals work on the psychological problem, Zipline and its partners have made inroads in availing anti-retroviral drugs and STI prevention implements closer to where the youths live.
In a recent report, the drone logistics company says its programme with Elton John AIDS Foundation – a non-profit organisation established by musician Sir Elton John in 1992 to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and support services to people living with or at risk of HIV – has already reached more than 33,000 young people with information about the disease.
“At community events, clinicians have distributed more than 61,000 Zipline-delivered condoms,” the report reads in part.
“Approximately 6,000 people have engaged in counselling or taken Zipline-delivered rapid tests. Over 750 have started either pre- or post-exposure prophylaxis and 22 have been diagnosed with HIV.”
It all began in March last year when the Elton John AIDS Foundation sought Zipline as a last mile transport partner in the former’s quest to reduce HIV infection rates among the people of Kenya.
The organisation reports that Kenya has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world, with an estimated 1,3 to 1,7million people living with the pandemic as of 2020.
Forty-two percent of new HIV cases are among young people aged 15-24; whose fear of being stigmatised prevents them from seeking care and safe sex practices.
The first challenge was the logistics: patients who have to begin HIV/AIDS treatment must take it indefinitely, and managing their supply is a lifelong challenge.
This is made harder when severe weather events such as flooding cut off access to health centres.
“In response to this, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Zipline, and Kisumu County Government partnered to deliver life-saving medical supplies to communities who are living with or at risk of HIV, and who live in remote areas of the country,” the non-profit said at the start of the project last year.
“Once enrolled in the program, adolescents and young adults can place orders via community health workers, and peer educators supported by the project.
“Over the span of our three-year partnership, automated drones will deliver HIV commodities, including self-test kits, PrEP, treatment, educational materials, and other related supplies to community distribution points frequented by young people. These areas include night clubs, sports fields, schools, and events – allowing youth to manage their health needs outside of a traditional clinical setting.”
And if finding faster means of transport was something Zipline could solve easily with a flight of a delivery drone from a hub to a client’s destination; overcoming stigma was another matter altogether.
“The biggest barrier here has been stigma,” says Beryl Owuor, a clinical officer at a Level-4 hospital in Ndiru.
Young people — especially those who live in rural areas—don’t want to visit a clinic that may be staffed by people they know, explains Caleb Wanjala, the technical lead of global health at Zipline.
“They don’t want members of their community to see them going to the Comprehensive Care Clinic, which provides all sorts of sexual and reproductive health services, because it’s associated with HIV-positive patients.”
As a solution, the three parties launched the project that tasked Zipline’s Zips to deliver reproductive health education, prevention, and treatment supplies to places where young people gather.
“The goal of this new, stigma-free approach is to bring down HIV/AIDS infection rates in Kenya, where people 24 years-old or younger account for up to 60 percent of new infections for all sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS,” the company says.
“Most importantly, patients who start treatment through this program tend to return. Among patients due for refills at one, four, and seven months, an average of 87 percent of people who started taking pre-exposure prophylaxis were still refilling their prescriptions. That’s significantly higher than the typical retention rate which is, at best, 20 percent after one month.”
The program also makes it easy for people who start the program to get refills, decentralising the process and bringing it out of the brick-and-mortar healthcare system.
“Initially, we could serve very few youths in our hospital settings,” Owour says.
“But given the new approach where we take the services to the people using drones, we have had up to 100 times of the former visits.”
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