Zipline’s Medical Drones Flying To Save Lives In Cross-River, Kaduna
Medical emergencies are a daily occurrence in medical practice and Nigeria has had its large share of such occurrences with sad tales of deaths and late delivery of life-saving medications.
But this scenario is about to be a thing of the past as some Nigerian state governments have already identified an organization that can bring the next phase of the healthcare supply chain to Nigeria and effectively ensures a seamless system of emergency medical care using Zipline’s drone technology.
These drones will make on-demand and emergency deliveries of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications. The new drone delivery service will also expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly for rural and hard-to-reach populations.
Zipline has built an end-to-end, cold chain distribution capability that allows it to safely deliver frozen and ultra-low COVID-19 vaccines and medical products.
Although this service is already available in Ghana and Rwanda, Kaduna and Cross River states would be the first to launch this innovative health care service in Nigeria.
Zipline currently serves up to 700 delivery points within a 20,100 KmSq service area in Ghana with expansion plans in the work.
Florence Haruna, a Performance Operations Lead at Zipline revealed that an average of 150 deliveries to hospital campuses, outpatient practices, and patients’ homes is carried out across Ghana in a day.
“We carry 95% of typical outpatient prescription shipments and 75% of typical medical-surgical products to far flung communities across Ghana on drones, “In Ghana, they call and know our drones as ‘Flying Ambulances,”” she added.
Sharing the Zipline’s success story in Ghana, Doctor Frank Klomlawunu of Apedwa Health Center said “It’s a miracle unfolding right before our eyes in Ghana,”
“Previously, we procure our drugs from the regional medical stores. That means, we have to request and get to the region, and sometimes, we operate a system in which drugs run out,” he said.
Speaking further, he noted that “Now that Zipline is in place when we run out of drugs, we make a request and they respond. Within 5 to 20 minutes, our quest lands. “Usually, the drugs that we do request is IV fluid, infusions, vaccines, and other tablets which is not heavyweight that will alter the supply.”
HOW ZIPLINE WILL WORK IN NIGERIA
Drone flight operators are already undergoing training in at Zipline Training Academy in Ghana ahead of the full operations of drone facilities in the two states. This is in preparation for the kick-off of the service in Kaduna by September 2021.
Zipline’s drones have flown more than 5 million autonomous miles to deliver more than 1 million doses of vaccines, units of blood, and critical and life-saving medications to thousands of health facilities serving more than 25 million people across three countries.
Senior Vice President of Zipline, Mr. Daniel Marfo, revealed that national-scale drone delivery of medical services to health facilities to rural communities in Kaduna state will start by September 2021. He said that Zipline was also in talks with other states in Nigeria and some Africa countries for an effective drone delivery system of medical equipment to health facilities to rural communities.
“The new solution is to increase access and reduce medical waste, key stock of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications. “All these will be stored at Zipline’s distribution centers for just-in-time delivery. “Health workers will place orders by text message or call, and promptly receive their deliveries in 30 minutes on average,” he said.
“The drones both take off from and land at Zipline’s distribution centers, requiring no additional infrastructure or manpower at the clinics they serve. “The drones fly autonomously and can carry 1.8kg of cargo, cruising at 110km an hour, and have a round trip range of 160km, even in high-speed winds and rain.’’
With Zipline launching in two states soon, they are capable of delivering blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications to more than 1,000 health facilities serving millions of good Nigerians.
Zipline’s Drone Garage
