By Jones Anlimah
Healthcare professionals in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region have commended the government for the introduction of Zipeline drone technology for the delivery of essential drugs and medical supplies to hard-to-reach areas.
According to them, the initiative, since its operations in some hard-to-reach areas in the district, has made a positive impact on access to essential medical drugs and supplies, and this, according to them, has improved healthcare delivery in the district.
This comes after about a year of operations by Zipeline in hard-to-reach areas in the Volta and parts of the Eastern Region from its Anum facility since the Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, commissioned it a year ago.
Access to essential services and drugs, which is critical in the provision of quality healthcare in many parts of the Volta Region, especially in hard-to-reach areas in the region, continues to be a major challenge confronting the delivery of quality healthcare.
Governments over the years have implemented policies that seek to address this major challenge of access.
This includes the establishment of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2003 with the goal of ensuring more equitable financing of health care to improve access to health services.
To further improve access to essential services and drugs in hard-to-reach areas in rural Ghana, government introduced the drone technology delivery service in 2019 to use autonomous electric drones to deliver life-saving medical supplies to help save urgent medical situations.
Kpoviadzi is a hard-to-reach community in the Central Tongu District of the Volta Region that is hooked onto the delivery operational areas of the Anum operational site of Zipeline, operators of the drone delivery technology in Ghana.
According to health professionals in this predominantly farming community, their poor road network is a major disincentive to accessing drugs and medical supplies needed for urgent medical situations.
According to a Senior Enrolled Nurse at the Kpoviadzi Health Center, Aisha Naa Kwamaah, the decision by government to partner with Zipline, operators of the drone service technology delivery, has reduced many of the challenges they have been encountering in their line of work.
“The Van driver that used to bring our medications once told me that(that was last two years) our road network is very bad so he will not bring any medicine here. So mostly he has been packing our drugs at Adidome, which is more than ten kilometers. So we use our motor to go to Adidome to convey the drugs here or sometimes they will put the drugs in a Taxi for them to bring it then we will pay the driver. But since Zipeline came along, things have been very easy, when we are in shortage of drugs or medicines we just request and within 30 minutes, we get them,” she said.
Aisha added that “Aside the improvements in health outcomes, their services have helped in reducing the time spent to access healthcare. We do not have to necessarily wait for the regular requisitions to the district capital before we work.”
The Central Tongu Health Information Officer, Albert Gbadago Mensah, in an interview with GBC News, said the introduction of drone delivery technology has contributed to the timely delivery of drugs and commodities to health facilities, especially those located in hard-to-reach areas, including Kpoviadze.
“We have about 24 facilities, and out of these, some are located in hard-to-reach areas and others too at the bank of the river. Some of the major challenges had to with timely delivery of drugs like anti-snake bite, blood and even when a Midwife is conducting a delivery and he or she doesn’t have basic amenities to work with. Previously when there was a snake bite you need to refer the person to the regional facility and where these facilities are located, the distance between the facilities and the regional hospital is very far. But now with the introduction of the Drone Delivery Technology, they are able to deliver anti-snake and other essential drugs needed within a short period of time to these facilities.” He noted.
The Community Lead for Zipline in Anum, Magdaline Awushi Bukudah, said in an interview with GBC News said over 1.3 million units of medical commodities, vaccines, and blood units have been delivered from the Anum facility since its launch.
“There is no doubt that our services are truly making the desired impact in the communities where we serve. We appreciate the government and all other stakeholders who have given us the required social license to operate; we remain committed to our core mandate of not letting anyone behind in access to critical commodities when they need them the most.”
The Anum distribution centre of Zipline currently delivers medicines, vaccines, and blood products to over 350 health facilities in both the Volta and Eastern Regions.