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Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Saturday commissioned Ghana’s third medical drone delivery center in Vobsi, in the northeast region’s West Mamprusi municipality, to improve healthcare, especially in hard-to-reach areas.
The center would use drones to make on-demand emergency deliveries of vaccines, blood products and life-saving drugs to more than 500 health facilities in the five northern regions of Ghana.
The vice president said the government’s decision to adopt the revolutionary service of using drones to deliver emergency medical products on demand is significantly improving access to basic emergency medical products by health facilities across the country.
An enthusiastic vice president shared stories he has heard about how the Zipline drone delivery service is saving many lives in hard-to-reach communities in Ghana.
“I was recently informed about a Dr. Issabella Amese, a medical superintendent at Baptist Medical Center, Nalerigu, who urgently needed four units of FFP O units until 3:21 am to save the life of a woman who was in critical condition. . The hospital was scarce and the only hope of survival was Zipline. Fortunately, Zipline obtained the necessary clearance from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority to fly this product at that time from this very distribution center. [Vobsi] to Baptist Medical Center. Today, this woman is alive and well. ”
Dr. Bawumia believes that the drone delivery service is raising the morale of healthcare workers across the country. “There are many stories in which our healthcare professionals have openly testified how this unique technology has boosted their morale, knowing full well that even in very difficult times, such as blood product shortages during emergencies, Zipline will be available to deliver right on time. ”
The vice president reiterated the government’s commitment to invest in the health service delivery system and also tasked the Ministry of Health with ensuring that Zipline’s services are expanded to reach all parts of the country by next year to in order to ensure that no one is left behind. in providing the basic health needs of Ghanaians. “… It is important that we accelerate this discussion so that we can cover the entire country, especially the areas of difficult access, with this service so that no community is left behind.”
Dr. Benard Oko-Boye, Deputy Minister of Health, expressed his satisfaction with how Zipline’s drone delivery service is dramatically helping to reduce referrals that are based on unavailability of drugs.
He hinted that reducing referrals is freeing up many more beds in referral hospitals and thus reducing bedless syndrome in those hospitals.
The Deputy Minister also indicated that the important partner between the Government and Zipline in the fight against COVID-19, where Zipline delivered COVID 19 samples via medical drones to testing centers, has placed Ghana as the first country in the world in use this technology in times of the pandemic. According to him, the partnership was also instrumental in speeding up the testing regime, thus saving a lot of money for districts that were far away from COVID 19 testing centers.
Dr. Oko-Boye commended Zipline for its effort in organizing regular blood donations within its operational areas to support the National Blood Bank.
For his part, the Managing Director of Zipline Ghana, Daniel Marfo, expressed his gratitude to all the partners and donors of the project. He believes that Zipline’s effort is yielding very significant results as the number of delivery requests continues to increase day by day.
“This technology is undoubtedly saving many lives; the demand for our services is increasing day by day. For our part, we remain committed to our part of the contract by continuing to save lives when it matters most. ”
