18 DC VELOCITY JUNE 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
newsworthy
Zipline expands medical drone delivery program to Ghana
California-based drone developer Zipline International
Inc. has expanded its operations to Ghana, three years after
launching its autonomous medical drone delivery service in
rural Rwanda, where the bots are now used to deliver vaccines, blood products, and medications.
Backed by financing from UPS Inc.,
Google Inc., and other venture-capi-tal funds, San Francisco-based Zipline
makes flying drones with five-foot wingspans that cruise about 60 mph using
battery-powered propellers. Each drone
can carry a four-pound payload within
a 50-mile radius, flying over the rugged mountains, rivers, and washed-out
roads that often hamper rural deliveries,
the company said. After dropping its parcel by parachute,
the drone autonomously returns to its home base.
To launch its first operation in Rwanda, Zipline teamed
up with Gavi, an international public-private partnership
based in Geneva, Switzerland, that was created to promote
the equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries.
Since starting that program in 2016, Zipline has carried
more than 13,000 packages and now delivers more than
65 percent of Rwanda’s blood supply outside of the capital
city, Kigali, the partners said.
Zipine will continue its partnership
with Gavi for the Ghana project, with
plans to open four distribution centers—each equipped with 30 drones
that operate 24 hours a day—and deliver parcels to over 2,000 health facilities
serving 12 million people across the
country, according to Gavi.
The Zipline drone network will be
integrated into Ghana’s national healthcare supply chain and is designed to
help prevent vaccine stockouts in health facilities as well as
during national immunization campaigns. Logistics will be
managed through Zipline’s hardware and software systems
in each of the DCs, and deliveries will take place at hospitals
and health clinics. UPS will provide technical guidance and
consulting services as needed.
