Drones deliver vaccines to remote island of Vanuatu

Jason Chute | Unicef

The first baby to be vaccinated by the commercial drone delivered vaccine, Joy Nowai, with her mother Julie Nowai.

“Today’s first-of-a-kind vaccine delivery has enormous potential not only for Vanuatu, but also for the thousands of children who are missing out on vaccines across the world,” Henrietta H. Fore, Unicef’s executive director, said in a press release on Tuesday. “This is innovation at its best and shows how we can unlock the potential of the private sector for the greater good of the world’s children.”

Miriam Nampil, the nurse who administered the vaccine, added: “It’s extremely hard to carry ice boxes to keep the vaccines cool while walking across rivers, mountains, across rocky ledges. But with these drones, we hope to reach many more children in the remotest areas of the island.”

Vanuatu’s trial comes amid a rise in the use of drones in healthcare delivery – particularly among developing countries.

Last week, Ghana’s government signed a deal with U.S. firm Zipline that will see drones delivering blood and other supplies to hospitals. Rwanda has also deployed drones to deliver supplies and blood to doctors in rural locations.

In Malawi, a scheme is being trialled where drones transfer blood samples to and from hospitals to speed up HIV diagnoses in infants, while Papua New Guinea transports samples from people with suspected tuberculosis to hospitals via drone.