Accra-Ghana, Dec. 21, GNA – Dr Kwabena Boadu Oku-Afari, Chief Director of the Ministry of Health (MOH), says Ghana needs an Aerial Logistics Policy to guide the usage of drone in the delivery of medical items.
“If a drone wants to fly, there should be a guideline on where it can go, what it can do and the commodities that it can deliver at any particular time,” he said.
Dr Oku- Afari was speaking at a health partners’ meeting on the implementation of aerial logistics in Ghana.
It was on the theme: “Three Years of Integrating Aerial Logistics in Health Supply Chain Management in Ghana- Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities”.
He said the government of Ghana had since 2019 partnered Zipline to deliver medicines and blood to hard-to-reach communities with drones.
The Chief Director said the partnership had made it possible for traditional vaccines, anti-rabies medicines and anti-snake venom to be delivered urgently and on time at places where it was needed.
The Chief Director said a lot of lives had been saved using drones to deliver blood on emergency basis within 15 to 20 minutes instead of using vehicles and said what was needed was usage policy.
Mr Mawuli Atieno, Zipline General Manger in Ghana, said the usage of aerial logistic in Ghana had complemented the traditional ways of delivering medications.
He said the government’s bold decision to roll out drone technology in healthcare delivery had sparked great interest around the world.
Mr Atiemo said within three years of operating, Zipline had supported the delivery of more than 5.9-million child vaccines to health facilities in communities with uneven geographical landscapes and others that did not have the required storage facilities.
“In the Western North Region for instance, where we are the sole distributor of child vaccines, the previous challenges of delay in the transport of medications, unavailability of storage systems for vaccines and administrative bottlenecks no longer pose a threat to healthcare delivery since we rolled this partnership,” he said.
He said through Ziplines efforts, Ghana had achieved a 21 per cent increase in vaccine coverage compared with the traditional means of deliveries, with the outcome contributing to reduction in childhood morbidity.
Mr Atiemo said a recent survey, which analysed health facilities served by three of Zipline’s distribution centres in Ghana, showed that their services were meaningfully contributing to the government’s effort at expanding healthcare across the country.
