Zipline transforms blood delivery in Rwanda

Instant delivery means getting supplies exactly where they need to be, as soon as they’re needed. Starting in 2016, the Government of Rwanda partnered with Zipline to tackle the countrywide challenge of unequal access to blood products and wastage. We started with a hypothesis: that centralizing storage and delivering product on-demand, where and when needed, could improve health outcomes. Zipline has now scaled to cover over 75% of blood supply and delivery in rural Rwanda. 

An external study of how Zipline’s instant delivery system is transforming the way blood products are stored, and accessed on-demand across Rwanda is available in The Lancet. Findings confirm reduction in time to access products among health facilities requesting them (often in cases of hemorrhage, anemia, or trauma) by over an hour, on average, and a 67% reduction in wastage of blood products through centralized storing and on-demand delivery protocol.