ADF STAFF
U.S. drone company Zipline has signed a partnership with Côte d’Ivoire that will make it easier to deliver medicine and supplies to remote areas. Côte d’Ivoire is the fourth African nation to sign an agreement with Zipline since 2016.
The partnership calls for the construction and operation of four distribution centers to store and dispatch the supplies on demand to more than 1,000 health facilities. The first center is expected to be operating by the end of 2022, according to Zipline.
Pierre N’gou Dimba, Côte d’Ivoire’s minister of health, public hygiene and universal health coverage, said the partnership will help the country achieve universal health coverage.
“We have evaluated the capacity of Zipline, their operations in other African countries with similar needs such as [ours], and we truly believe that this partnership will help us to remove access barriers to health care and create a more equitable and efficient health system across the country,” Dimba said in a statement.
Shortly after reporting its first COVID-19 case, Ghana became the first African nation to use Zipline drones to expand testing capabilities. COVID-19 test samples were collected from rural health facilities, taken to a Zipline distribution center and flown 112 kilometers to the capital, Accra, for testing and analysis.
It marked the first time that autonomous drones were used to make regular long-range deliveries into densely populated urban areas, and it was the first time drones were used to deliver COVID-19 test samples.
Since then, Zipline has partnered with Nigeria and Rwanda to deliver coronavirus-related medicines and supplies. Those deals include the delivery of blood products, medications and vaccines unrelated to COVID-19. Zipline has distributed blood by drones in Rwanda since 2016, and it has used drones to delivered vaccines, blood and medicines in Ghana since 2019.
In Côte d’Ivoire, Zipline will be the only supplier for some health facilities in remote regions. Zipline also is expected to employ locals at distribution centers, the company said.
Israel Bimpe, director of Africa Go-To-Market for Zipline, said he expects the partnership to dramatically improve the country’s health care delivery system.
“Our revolutionary instant logistics technology, which is being deployed around the world, will largely improve access and even distribution of medical commodities to remote and hard-to-reach areas,” Bimpe said in a statement. “It is for this reason that we are excited with this partnership, which overall, will improve the lives of our own people, leaving no one behind in terms of access to medical commodities.”
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