Drones will soon deliver medicines to aged Ghanaians - Oppong Nkrumah

Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has disclosed that drones will soon be used to deliver medicine to Ghanaians in their homes.

According to him, aged Ghanaians will no longer have to worry about going out to buy medicine as the government is initiating a new program in partnership with Zipline to ensure their medicines are delivered to them in the comfort of their homes.

He made this revelation while elucidating Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's public lecture held at Ashesi University Tuesday evening on the topic ,"Transforming An Economy Through Digitization: The Ghana Story''.

Dr. Bawumia lauded government's efforts in making healthcare adequately accessible to Ghanaians, particularly those in the rural areas, through Zipline drone service aimed at providing medical supplies faster to patients.

The Vice President touted the government's achievements since it commenced the drone health delivery service.

''Ghana was the second country in Africa after Rwanda to implement the delivery of medical supplies through drones. There are four Zipline distribution centers currently...and these four centers deliver about on average, they do 100 flights a day. This December, we will add two more centers...'', he said.

He added; ''Ghana is the largest medical drone delivery service in the world...What is even more impressive is that the drone centers are 100 percent manned by talented young Ghanaians [100%]. They are the flight operators and everything and it is really a sight to behold when you see them in action.''

Speaking in an interview on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' programme Thursday morning, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah also underscored the benefits of the drone health delivery service stressing the drones were used to convey blood samples to medical centers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

He further stated the drones have also been very beneficial to rural communities by providing emergency health services to the residents.

"Each day, the four Zipline drone centers, on the average, do 400 flights a day," he said.

To advance the health sector using technology, the medical drone service is going to be upgraded to render individualized services, the Minister noted, emphasizing "if an elderly person is in the house and needs medication but cannot move to and fro, now due to the digital property address system, we are opening a platform that, if he can buy his/her medicine on the Zipline platform, a drone will deliver the medicine to the elderly in his/her courtyard''.