Medical Drones System Delivers 540, 000 Flights

…Bawumia Reveals Inspiration Behind Initiative

The Ghana Drones Delivery Service, launched on April 2019, to deliver critical medical supplies, such as blood, drugs, vaccines within some designated areas, has delivered about 540, 000 flights to health facilities across the country.

The initiative, which is a partnership between Zipline International and the Ghana Health Service (GHS), is a 24-hour health delivery system, operating currently in six distribution centres from initial four, with each equipped with 30 drones to 2, 700 health facilities and serving over 12 million people across the country.

The centres are, Omenako, Mpanya, Vobsi, Sefwi Wiawso, Kete Krachi and Anum, making it the largest aerial logistics delivery network in the world.

Speaking on the policy programme, during the last day of his Greater Accra Regional campaign tour, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, recalled the genesis of the technology and the critical needs it is serving.

He narrated how his team met with Zipline International abroad to strike the important deal.

“We met the Zipline Company and convinced them to come to Ghana and set up six drone centers in Ghana. We have six drone centers that are delivering blood, medicines, and vaccines to 2,700 hospitals and health centers in Ghana. Every day, we are saving lives. So far, the drones have flown 540,000 flights,” he added.

Dr Bawumia, who was addressing a gathering at Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency in the nation’s capital, disclosed the inspiration behind the initiative, linking it to events that led to the demise of his father.

He said, over 20 years ago, his father was in critical need of blood in 2002 after a surgery in Northern Regional capital Tamale.

With pain, he said their inability to access blood contributed to the unfortunate demise of his father that year, indicating this inspired him to think outside the box when the NPP administration came into power in order to save more lives.

“In 2002, my father had an operation in Tamale and was losing blood. We were looking for blood, but the blood bank was locked”, Dr Bawumia recalled.

“We tried to find the operator but couldn’t find him. So, when I heard about drones and Zipline and what they could do in delivering blood, I took my team and went to San Francisco”, he stated.

The NPP flagbearer said, it was unacceptable for people to die needlessly due to unavailability of these supplies especially blood.

“We brought drones into Ghana to deliver medicines, vaccines, and blood. Many people were dying needlessly because they could not get medicine on time. A snake can bite you on the farm and you need medicine, and anti-snake serum immediately. A mother can be giving birth in the village and needs blood immediately”, he declared.

World’s Largest

Today, the country has built the world’s largest autonomous delivery system.

In the past four years, Zipline has worked with the Government to grow from one distribution centre to six.

It has also exponentially increased the number of deliveries, at no additional cost to the government: In 2019, Zipline made an average of 375 deliveries per month. Over the years, average monthly deliveries have increased by 44 times, reaching 17,000 in 2023.

Today, Zipline employs more than 200 Ghanaians and has made over 350,000 deliveries to health facilities across 13 regions as at last year.

The program has also expanded to new use cases. While Zipline launched primarily to deliver vaccines, it now includes several products from medical supplies to antivenom.

To deliver antivenom, Zipline stores it in a centralized, refrigerated warehouse – preventing healthcare workers from having to stock it onsite and risk expiration. Clinicians who order antivenom receive it within an hour, which enables them to treat patients quickly, preventing toxins from spreading, which can lead to renal failure, amputation and even death.

Zipline has flown more than 5,500 units of antivenom to people across Ghana since January 2022.

By far, the most frequently delivered product in Ghana is vaccines. When Zipline launched in Ghana they came in handy for the support of routine vaccine delivery while the country was under lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Zipline has delivered more than eight million doses of routine vaccines including those against tetanus, polio, measles and meningitis, as well as over two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Zipline’s COVID-19 vaccine deliveries helped reach the most vulnerable households. Most went to districts with a high number of households led by women, or those in rural areas, far from fresh water and the regional medical store.

Zipline deliveries to these areas reduce the burden on healthcare workers, who otherwise have to refer patients to different facilities, due to stockouts, or spend hours out of their days driving to the regional medical store to pick up products.

President Akufo-Addo during his state of the nation address in Parliament on March 8, 2023 lauded his government’s decision to introduce drones in healthcare delivery, positioning the country as the host of the world’s largest medical drone delivery network.

In his address, President Akufo-Addo said, “Zipline’s drone delivery service is firmly established, and the country now has six centres, making Ghana the largest drone delivery network in the world.

Zipline, through the national drone delivery services, has delivered more than 14.8 million units of lifesaving medicines, vaccines and blood products to health facilities by the end of 2022”.