More than 90,000 health workers worldwide have contacted the Covid-19 in the course of treating affected patients. To reduce these numbers, the Rwandan government wants its health workers to have limited physical contact with patients under their care.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
It is to be noted in January, doctors used a robot to treat the first person in the US who been affected by coronavirus. The robot in a hospital in Seattle was employed to check the man’s vitals, limiting contact with health workers.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
According to Dr. Daniel Ngamije, Rwanda’s minister of health, Robots have the capacity to capture sound and visual data of patients and can notify health workers on detected abnormalities.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
Robots named Akazuba, Ikizere, Mwiza, Ngabo& Urumuri will be mainly used in screening temperatures, monitoring patient status & keeping medical records of #COVID19 patients.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
The robots perform a number of tasks relating to managing coronavirus. They can screen up to 150 people every minute for symptoms of the virus such as high temperature and dry cough.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
“These robots will perform temperature screening in our treatment centers. The robots will detect people walking in not wearing masks so that with the voice, the command post can quickly be informed and respond,” he said.
The robots have the capacity to deliver medicine, food, and other essentials in place of frontline workers to Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment, Ngamije said.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
They are programmed to communicate properly and can also educate health workers and patients on the dangers of the virus and how to stay safe, he added.
Robotics engineers from the UNDP will train staff of the Rwandan Ministry of health on how to use the robots so they can put them to work.
Rwanda is not the first country to use robots in managing the spread of coronavirus.
During Tunisia’s lockdown in April, police robots were deployed to patrol areas in the country’s capital city to ensure that residents were observing the lockdown.
They were controlled by officers who checked the ID of residents found wandering through the robot’s camera.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
Rwanda has low corruption levels relative to most other African countries
During 2014, Transparency International ranked Rwanda as the fifth cleanest out of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and 55th cleanest out of 175 in the world.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
Rwanda constitution provides for an Ombudsman, whose duties include prevention and fighting of corruption.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
Public officials (including the President) are required by the constitution to declare their wealth to the Ombudsman and to the public; those who do not comply are suspended from office.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
President Kagame has made healthcare one of the priorities for the Vision 2020 development programme, Boosting spending on health care to 6.5% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2013, compared with 1.9% in 1996.
[splco_spacer size=”30″]
