US Veep Kamala Harris hails impact of medical drone delivery in Ghana

Visiting United States Vice President Kamala Harris has hailed the positive impact of Ghana’s drone medical delivery service.

Speaking at a public lecture in Accra on Tuesday on a wide range of issues, Vice President Harris singled out Ghana’s innovative medical drone delivery for praise, highlighting the enormous positives and impact it is making on delivery of emergency medical supplies.

The US Vice President noted that the drone medical delivery service has “reduced the delivery of emergency time for blood supplies”.

She also acknowledged its effectiveness, adding that “in Ghana, this service has delivered more than 9 million vaccines including those for Covid-19”.

The Zipline Medical Drone Delivery Service was introduced in 2017, and spearheaded by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who at the time, spoke passionately about the positive impact it will bring on Ghana’s health delivery system.

However, his critics vehemently fought against the idea, with leading officials of the opposition NDC encouraging rural communities to reject the drone service because the drones were meant to take their naked pictures in their open bathrooms.

With about six active centres and two more set to open, Ghana’s medical drone delivery service is the largest in the world.

The drones deliver critical medical supplies such as blood within minutes to rural areas which are difficult to access by road.

The US Vice President noted that the USA has only started using drones for medical supply delivery through Zipline.