The Kaduna State Government and Zipline, world’s first and only national-scale drone delivery service have partnered to use a logistics network of autonomous delivery drones in healthcare delivery.

The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com gathered that the drones would help transform access and availability of routine and emergency medicine for millions of people in one of Nigeria’s most populous and dynamic states.

It was also gathered that the revolutionary new service will use drones to make on-demand deliveries of hundreds of different vaccines, blood products, and life-saving medications.

“The service will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from 3 distribution centers—each equipped with 30 drones—and deliver to more than 1,000 health facilities, serving millions of people across Kaduna State.

“Together, all three distribution centers will be capable of microtargeting the delivery of more than six tons of medical products each week over more than 60,000 square kilometers.

“Kaduna State is focused on delivering one of the best public healthcare systems in Nigeria,” El-Rufai said.

“The state has upgraded 255 primary health centres, one in each political ward, to improve access to health care services. It is also implementing a supply chain transformation programme in the health sector, including the installation of a Pharmagrade warehouse, to efficiently service the needs of hospitals for medicines, consumables and vaccines.”

“Our primary health board is recruiting and training 3000 officers to manage these systems and ensure that health facilities do not experience stock outs.”

“While we celebrate our successes, we must also recognize that we have much more work to do to create universal access to critical healthcare for all.”

“The agreement with Zipline builds on and adds value to our initiatives to strengthen the capacity of the Kaduna State health system.This new emergency drone delivery service is a great solution to deliver vaccines, blood and other lifesaving products instantly when time is of essence. It will help ensure that millions of people in Kaduna State will always get the care they need.”

“Where you live shouldn’t determine whether or not you have access to the medicine you need,” said Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo. ”That’s why I’m so proud of our partnership with Kaduna State. Our work together will help transform the quality of care for millions and help make Nigeria a world leader in using technology to expand universal healthcare access.”

Commenting on the new service ,he said the revolutionary new service, which is expected to launch operations in the second quarter of 2021, is part of the Government of Kaduna State’s bold vision of using drone delivery to establish universal, seven-days-a-week access to lifesaving and critical medicines for most of its more than eight million citizens over the coming years.

“Zipline drones will make on-demand and emergency deliveries of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving medications.”

“In addition to expanding access to routine and emergency medical deliveries, the new drone delivery service will also expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly for rural and hard to reach populations. Zipline has built an end-to-end, cold chain distribution capability that allows it to safely deliver frozen and ultra-low COVID-19 vaccines and medical products. ”

“This will allow health facilities in Kaduna State to bypass the need for ultra-low freezers—which are required to transport, store and distribute the Pfizer vaccine—by receiving on-demand deliveries of the precise amount of COVID-19 vaccines they require at any time, safely and compliantly within the required temperature profile. ”

“The Government of Kaduna State’s vision is for Zipline to establish a total of three distribution centers across the state in phases over the next several years. The government’s goal is to put almost all of its more than eight million citizens within minutes of a lifesaving medical delivery by drone.”

“In the first phase of operations, a distribution center located in Barwa in Kauru LGA will be established to serve health facilities there beginning in Q3 2021. Over the next year, additional distribution centers are planned in Rafingyeda in Birnin Gwari LGA and Kachia in Kachia LGA. All three distribution centers are projected to serve over one thousand regional hospitals and health facilities serving millions of people.”