₦airaland Forum

The New Tafo Government Hospital in Ghana’s Eastern Region,
community health nurse Gladys Dede Tetteh has run out of
yellow fever vaccines. There is a long line of anxious mothers
fanning themselves and their babies as they wait on benches.
An order has been placed for more vaccines which would usually
take two hours on a good day (sometimes more) for it to be
delivered by road from the central medical stores.
But 21 minutes later, a drone did the job—dropping off a
parachuted box containing vaccines from a height of about 80
meters to a small lawn quadrangle inside the hospital as a group
of journalists watch on. The drone doesn’t stop as it makes a
delivery and returns to base. A junior nurse picked the box up
and the vaccination for newborns is back on. Tafo hospital is the
first in Ghana signed up to the government’s new medical drone
delivery program which hopes to use unmanned aerial vehicles to
deliver medical products to hard to reach communities in a
timely manner.
ZIPLINE
The Ghana Health Service is working with Zipline, the drone
company best known for starting blood delivery services in
Rwanda. Ghana’s health policymakers hope faster drop-offs will
improve its health outcomes including reducing its maternal and
infant mortality rates. According to the World Health
Organization, “severe bleeding during delivery or after childbirth
is the commonest cause of maternal mortality and contributes to
around 34% of maternal deaths in Africa.” The timely access to
safe blood could save many lives.
The medical drone program was officially launched on
Wednesday Apr. 24 by Ghana’s vice president Mahamudu
Bawumia, who first made the announcement a year ago.
The drones will be able to travel to 500 health facilities within an
80-kilometer-range from the Omenako center which is stocked
with emergency medicines, vaccines, blood and blood products.
The delivery program is also hoped will help reduce the
incidence of wastage of medical products, a result of
overstocking at hospitals.
. Zipline is describing the Ghana operation as the
world’s largest drone delivery service.
https://qz.com/africa/1604374/ziplines-drone-delivery-launches-in-ghana-with-vaccines/

DO YOU THINK THE REST OF AFRICA COUNTRIES SHOULD ADOPT THIS INITIATIVE AND SEE IT AS THE WAY TO GO?

chukwuibuipob:

k
Nigeria and Senegal have agreed to follow suit...That's a good move for Africa.

chukwuibuipob:

Nigeria and Senegal have agreed to follow suit...That's a good move for Africa.