The Ministry of Health has signed a Letter of Intent
with the developer and operator of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, popularly known
as drones, to offer a drone-enabled supply chain solution in Ghana that will
ensure secure, reliable and timely deliveries of essential health care products
to hospitals and other health facilities.
The Service, which will be designed, installed and operated
by USA-based Zipline International Inc. in partnership with the Ghana Health
Service, will leverage technology to improve the supply chain of critical
medical supplies, reduce waste and save lives.
A Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah, signed on
behalf of Ghana while Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline, signed for his company in
Accra on Monday 23rd April 2018, in the presence of Vice President Dr Mahamudu
Bawumia, who has championed the governmental effort to ensure the use of
innovation and technology in public service delivery.
Zipline was one of the many companies with
cutting-edge technology who met and held discussions with the Vice President
and the founders and leaders of a number of Ghanaian ICT firms a few weeks ago
during H.E. Dr Bawumia’s working visit to Silicon Valley, California, USA.
A number of companies based in the ICT hub of Silicon
Valley have also indicated their readiness to explore partnership opportunities
with their Ghanaian counterparts after the trip to design and implement
Ghanaian solutions for Ghanaian challenges.
Speaking earlier in the day at the 2018 edition of the
Ministry of Health and Partners Health Summit, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia had
indicated that government was exploring innovative ways, including the use of
drone technology, to make universal health care available to every Ghanaian in
a timely manner irrespective of location.
According to officials, Ghana will become the first
country in West Africa, and the largest in the world, to use such a delivery
system when it is fully deployed.
The system can also be employed to deliver other items
such as urgent letters, examination papers and election materials such as
ballot papers, officials maintain.
Addressing the media after the brief signing ceremony,
which was witnessed by officials from the National Blood Bank, Ghana Post and
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Tina Mensah extolled the virtues of such a
system for efficient health care delivery.
“Very soon we will be seeing some drones flying to
hitherto hard to reach areas of this country and thereby we will be saving
lives. It will have so many uses. For example, when there is an accident
somewhere, instead of transporting essential healthcare products by a vehicle
which would take a lot more time, the drones can just deliver within the
shortest possible time, so lives could be saved.”
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service
(GHS), Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare, recounted how this technology has helped in the
healthcare delivery systems in Rwanda to the admiration of the global medical
field and was optimistic its introduction in Ghana will improve the performance
of the GHS.
He called for speedy implementation of the technology
for efficient healthcare delivery.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority has pledged
to create an air corridor for drones to prevent collisions with aeroplanes and
other larger aircraft.
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