Zipline Begins Delivery Of Medical Supplies Via Drone In Cross River

Drone delivery service Zipline has said it has begun making regular commercial deliveries of vital medical supplies to hospitals in Cross River.

This came after the company received a successful permission and a right to fly certification from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities, according to a statement released by the company on Tuesday.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding with Cross River, the company will construct and run two distribution centres where it would keep necessary medications and vaccinations, according to Catherine Odiase, General Manager of Zipline Nigeria.

She clarified that medical professionals could place orders via text message or phone and would swiftly receive deliveries at the precise time and location they required, usually within 30 minutes.

“Our technology is proven to be one of choice for the last mile delivery.

“This partnership with Cross River will allow us to start seeing very significant improvements in the delivery of essential medicines and vaccines to health facilities within our operational area,” Odiase said.

She stated that Zipline owed a great deal to the state government and all the organisations that devoted many hours to obtaining the accreditation needed to start making commercial deliveries in the state.

Additionally, Godwin Ipuole, the health officer in charge of the Primary Health Centre in Ibil, Ogoja, praised the state government for its audacious choice to use technology to eliminate the access barriers that many difficult-to-reach communities, like Ibil, face while carrying out their duties.

“Vaccine stock-outs have been a huge challenge to us.

“Our inability to always meet the health needs of our clients, simply on the grounds of non-availability of essential medicines lowers our motivation.

“I have no doubt that with such a transformative technology, our primary challenge of access will be a thing of the past,” he said.

Director-General of the Cross-River State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Abasi Offiong, expressed her optimism that technology would play a significant part in the state's total healthcare delivery.

“It is our expectation that all medical commodities to all the primary healthcare agencies within the various local governments will be sourced from Zipline.

“With the degree of efficiency that Zipline puts into their work, we anticipate that all essential medicines requested will be delivered timely and within the right conditions,” Offiong said.

She added that the collaboration offered the state a chance to enhance the entire universal health service project they had pledged to carry out.

Zipline drones can fly independently, carry three kilogrammes of goods, travel at 110 kph, and have a round-trip range of 220 kph even in strong winds and rain.

Deliveries are made from the air by a drone that flies to a safe height above the ground, descends, and then parachute-releases a box of medicine to a predetermined location at the health facilities and community delivery sites it serves.

Every two minutes, Zipline completes an instant delivery for organisations and governments on three continents.

20 times more than the largest autonomous car company in the world, Zipline has delivered more than 500,000 packages, five million items, and flown more than 40 million autonomous kilometres.

After Kaduna, Cross River State is the second state in Nigeria to deploy Zipline drone technology for commercial purposes.