Accra, March 22, GNA – Medical supply and logistic delivery company, Zipline Technologies, has expanded its operations to the Anum and Kete-Krachi areas as part of efforts to reach more health facilities in the Volta and Oti regions.
The ceremony was held at Nyagbo Sroe, a remote suburb of the Afadjato South District of the Volta Region, to witness the delivery of medical commodities, which was graced by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
The Vice-President has been championing the adoption of the technology as one of the key ways to accessing and improving healthcare services in the country.
In her welcome statement, the Country Manager of Zipline, Naa Adorkor Yawson, said the opening of the two distribution centres in the two regions was in recognition of health industrialisation plans by the Government to see more health outposts benefit from government interventions.
She emphasised that since the start of business operations in Ghana, Zipline had prioritised all efforts at getting more health facilities, especially those in hard-to-reach areas, enrolled on its drone supply-chain.
Three years since the business commenced in Ghana, communities marginalised by access challenges, leading to inadequate stocking of health facilities with vital medications, had experienced first-hand the beauty of the Zipline technology, which had helped save the lives of many.
“Three years ago, what began as a small initiative in the little town of Omenako to bring relief to the communities within that enclave, turned out to be a futuristic, science-tech driven partnership, refined with solutions to addressing our major health concerns,” Naa Yawson said.
“For the first time, communities marginalised by geographical and infrastructure challenges had experienced first-hand instant access to medicines, stronger emergency and disaster response, reduction in referral rates and improved healthcare through this beautiful technology.”
The expanded business cooperation, supported by the Government through the Ministry of Health and allied partners, had witnessed comprehensive and rapid development in the health sector, she said.
Apart from the home commendation of reducing the incidence of infant mortality through the vaccine distribution programme and the swift response to medical emergencies in remote areas, the company had also received international plaudits for its work in the African sub-region.
Naa Adorkor Yawson, further commended the Vice President, the Health Ministry, the Ghana Health Service, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and other partners for ensuring that the full benefit of the service is achieved.
She indicated that with the two new distribution centers, about 70% of the Volta Region and 90% of the Oti Region would be reached with their services.
Addressing the chiefs and people of the Nyagbo Sroe, Vice President Bawumia said the event was part of government’s broader commitment to expanding the reach of the drone services to ensure that “no one is left behind when accessing emergency medicines and other health care products”.
“When the world was hit by the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic and all countries were challenged by the difficulties of even distribution of vaccines, the Zipline drones came in handy.”
“I understand close to one-million COVID-19 vaccines have so far been delivered by Zipline to many health facilities across the country. This, no doubt, is one of the contributory factors for which reason we have not experienced massive expiries of the vaccines as happened in many other countries.”
Vice President Bawumia through the operation of Zipline, has become the only country in the entire world to use drones to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to dosing centers, he said.
According to the Vice President, the testimonies of patients and health practitioners of various health facilities about the impact of the drone delivery goes beyond political cynicism.
He admonished Zipline to stay focused on its mandate and ensure that it carried its duties with heart and mind, so that many more health facilities will benefit from the service.
GNA