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17.12.2018 Health

Opinon: Drone-Delivery Of Medical Supplies: An Open, Thorough Review

By CitiNewsRoom
Opinon: Drone-Delivery Of Medical Supplies: An Open, Thorough Review
17.12.2018 LISTEN

...From Pharma Research Ghana

Ghana’s Parliament has approved a deal to implement drone delivery for emergency drugs and blood supply. Now this follows the successful implementation of this program in Rwanda, a country with a pharmacist to patient ratio of 1:1,000,000 as compared to Ghana with 1:15000, making this program very feasible for our motherland.

This program is under the direct purview of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH), as drugs, medicines and the logistics for procurement and distribution of these are core elements of the pharmacy profession. However, the silence of PSGH, whether or not it conveys consent, has been deafening and hence as abled members of the honourable society we attempt to present the facts as they are and thoroughly analyse what the pros and cons of this deal may be.

So here is what we know.

The company in question, Fly Zipline, who are they?

Zipline operates the world's only drone delivery system at a national scale to send urgent medicines, such as blood and vaccines, to those in need no matter where they live. They are a California-based startup rapidly expanding with operations in Rwanda, and soon Tanzania, with backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Zipline provide courier services with competent and trained local staff for the prompt delivery of drugs via drone and logistics management.

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What exactly is in the deal?

Per what has been revealed to the media, the deal has been structured as a fee-for-delivery program. That is, if the company makes less than 15 deliveries daily in a month, there will be no payment, from 15 to 50 deliveries daily per month, Zipline gets $11,000 and at maximum capacity of 150 deliveries per day, the company gets $88,000 (per month) as quoted by the Honourable Health Minister. The program is intended to run for a period of 4 years, at a cumulative cost of about $12m for the period with maximum delivery capacity assumed.

How does this fit in with our current delivery systems, and medical stores?

Zipline will be working in tandem with nationwide medical stores to supply available drugs to health centres all over the country.

How is this going to be funded or paid for?

Currently, the government touts that the program will be paid for by corporations in the country as part of their corporate social responsibility, the Ghana National Petroleum Commission being one of the institutions committed to sponsoring it. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a firm backer of the companies activities, however the extent of financial commitment being given with regards to its Ghanaian operation is at yet unknown.

What benefits will this program confer?

This program will help to meet the needs of people in rural areas without access to essential drugs. Vaccines are planned to be included in this program which will go a long way in eradicating diseases such as chicken pox, Hepatitis A and B, Measles, Human papilloma virus and more. This will help in achieving our millennium development goals of reducing child mortality.

The prompt delivery of blood supply will also help improve maternal mortality, another millennium development goal, which is high in Ghana because of direct causes such as haemorrhage, abortion, miscarriage, etc some of which may be solved with blood transfusions with compatible blood. The health benefits of this program are immense to say the least and it also confers some cost benefits. As the program rolls out, data on facilities and drug supply needed will be garnered. Drugs will be supplied on a request basis and this would help to prevent expiries, shortages or stock-outs in facilities whilst aiding optimisation of procurement quantities and complete use of medicines purchased. Data saves cost and time which would lead to greater productivity in our health centres.

Why is this a unique opportunity?

Despite urgent calls for the need of ambulances and increased expertise of health personnel in rural community based health planning and services compounds, the implementation of this program does not serve to rule out the necessity of these resources, but to augment them.

Even with ambulance availability and increased qualified human resources at various rural CHPS compounds, there arise further problems such as poor roads and transit times of ambulances, the need to setup ambulance stations and the unavailability of emergency medicines such as blood, antidotes and anti-snake venom. As we work on improving human resource in rural areas, through education and better deployment strategies, drones offer a cost effective outlet for remedying some of these problems.

THE CONS?

Currently the issues being raised have to do with whether this is a priority for the nation now and whether it is indeed cost effective and not another government sham. It's worth noting that UNICEF have called for drone delivery of vaccines in remote islands around the world, with the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health also noting in research that cost savings would come from drones being able to deliver vaccines faster and cheaper than land-based methods.

It is the opinion of Pharma Research Ghana, and we strongly believe most pharmacists share this view, that given these are the facts, then this program is essential for our emergency service system and whilst not a panacea, it is certainly a positive step forward. We also want to entreat the government to employ this Corporate Social Responsibility model in addressing funding of other equally important healthcare challenges in the country with enthusiasm and proactiveness to help optimise patient outcomes in all our health centres.

By: Pharma Research Ghana Signed, Andrew Nii Ofori Annan (BPharm, MPSGh) (Secretary) Akosua Bema Debrah (BPharm, MPhil Clinical Pharmacy, MPSGh) (President) About the authors Pharma Research Ghana is a group of pharmacists dedicated to providing evidence-based knowledge for top-notch healthcare delivery.

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