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Healthcare system in Ghana: How to save drones human lives

2019-09-12T12:07:46.498Z


A WhatsApp message - and already in Ghana drones on the way: loaded with vaccine, blood or drugs. But the successful project ensures dispute among health politicians.



Global society

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Dozens of eyes are turned to heaven, to something that looks like a black bird from afar. Women in patterned dresses hold their babies in their arms and cheer as the drone drones over their heads and drops a red packet the size of a shoebox.

A nurse in a green coat walks over the grass and grabs the packet. Since June, the health center in the town of Anyinam in the south of Ghana has been supplied with drugs by drone. And that's part of a big plan.

Planned 600 drone flights per day

The world's largest medical drone network is to be set up in Ghana in West Africa, according to the press release on the launch date in April this year. The logistics management takes over the California company Zipline. The Ghanaian government approved twelve million dollars for the next four years. Zipline bills the government for the cost of the flights. The delivery of medicines remains in state hands. "We are the logistics center," says Komla Buami, Press Officer of Zipline.

The numbers sound impressive: 120 drones are expected to supply around the clock with up to 2,000 health centers, whose catchment area is home to around 12 million Ghanaians - almost half of the population. Four drone airports are planned for this, of which 600 are scheduled to depart daily.

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Ghana: drug delivery by drone

So far, however, only the beginning has been made. Currently, 14 health care facilities are supplied. Around 20 times a day, the seven drones that are being used to provide health centers and hospitals with antivenom antisera, blood products, or polio vaccines, start using frozen plasma or glucose powder. There are a total of 148 medical products that can be shipped to order via call, SMS or WhatsApp message with drones.

The new drone airport is located approximately 70 kilometers from Ghana's capital Accra, on a hill in a place called Omenako. As in an arrivals hall, the flight data is displayed on a digital tablet. The approximately 15 employees can read, since when a drone is traveling and whether she has already dropped their load. In the hall, the batteries are charged and the bellies of the drones filled with the drugs from the adjacent warehouse.

In an emergency, the drone saves important time

The health center in the town of Anyinam had ordered five rabies vaccines that afternoon. "At first I was skeptical," says Sarah Amyah, who runs the facility. "I thought that we could use other things more urgently."

It is 40 kilometers from the drone airport to the health center in Anyinam. It takes about 35 minutes to drive by car - the drone can do it in 20 minutes. In total, the devices can travel 110 kilometers per hour, they have a range of 180 kilometers.

In a country like Ghana, where many roads are unpaved and flooded during the rainy season, saving time is a great advantage - when it comes to medical emergencies. "Nobody in Ghana should die because in case of emergency the necessary medicine is not available," said President Nana Akufo-Addo at the opening of the drone airport in April. But basically, many wonder if the money for the drone project could not have been better invested.

Too few doctors, too few ambulances, too little blood

"For real emergencies, the use of drones may make sense," says Gameli Aheto, a doctor in the emergency department of the University Hospital in Ghana's capital Accra. "But vaccinations are usually not an emergency." With this criticism Aheto is not alone. Whether in social media or hospitals: The drones theme is heatedly discussed. The Ghanaian Medical Council, for example, called on the government to put the project on ice until it was tested on a small scale. The criticism: The project can not help to sustainably improve the ailing health system of the country.

But hardship prevails in many places:

  • Nationwide, there are only 55 working ambulances for 29 million people. By comparison, in Germany there are more than 20,500 rescue vehicles, in North Rhine-Westphalia alone there are more than 4,000.
  • There are also too few doctors in Ghana: There are 5555 patients for a doctor - the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a ratio of 1: 1000.
  • In an emergency, blood supplies are also missing: In 2017, more than 160,000 blood donations were collected. However, only a good third of voluntary donors were from it. Two-thirds of the canned blood donated directly to relatives who were in distress. In accidents and other acute emergencies, however, this is not possible.

A drone project can not solve such problems. Critics fear that it fights a symptom only at very short notice and conceals other grievances. "People do not see the problems, they only see the new drones that are now there distributing medicines," says Aheto. "But that's not the way to build a stable, sustainable healthcare system."

"Priorities set wrong"

113 high school students recently suffered from acute diarrhea. Within 20 minutes, a drone brought 125 packets of a drink solution. "The remedy costs less than 10 cents per patient and should be available in every school, but definitely in every hospital," says Aheto. The media celebrated Zipline for saving the students.

Aheto fears that the hospital staff could become dependent on the drones and the US provider - and even less aware of a forward-looking planning. Because a call is made quickly and then the company brings the package directly in front of the hospital door. You can get used to it quickly, but Zipline is paid for every single flight, every single delivery.

"Here priorities were set wrong," says Gregory Rockson, CEO and founder of mPharma, a start-up from Ghana, which takes inventory and supplies of drugs in pharmacies. "If I were to replace the Ghanaian government, I would not have spent the $ 12 million on transporting drugs with drones from A to B." To classify: In 2016, the Ghana Health Service, which is responsible for the basic health care of the country, converted about 229 million euros available.

Sarah Amyah, director of health care in Anyinam, is no longer interested in how. She is thrilled with the efficiency of the drones. "They are reliable and fast, helping us to heal patients." Critics agree with this: in an emergency, the drug can save lives via a drone. Rockson hopes, however, that the Ghanaian government will more effectively and cheaply address this fundamental supply gap in the future: "But nobody will applaud you if you use vans to transport medicines."

This article is part of the project Global Society, for which our reporters report from four continents. The project is long-term and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

What is the project Global Society?

Under the title Global Society, reporters from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe will be reporting on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development. The reportages, analyzes, photo galleries, videos and podcasts appear in the Politics Department of SPIEGEL. The project is long-term and will be supported over three years by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Are the journalistic contents independent of the foundation?

Yes. The editorial content is created without the influence of the Gates Foundation.

Do other media have similar projects?

Yes. Major European media such as "The Guardian" and "El País" have created similar sections on their news pages with "Global Development" or "Planeta Futuro" with the support of the Gates Foundation.

Was there already similar projects at SPIEGEL ONLINE?

SPIEGEL ONLINE has already implemented two projects in recent years with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After tomorrow" on Global Sustainability Goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals" Several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and escape have emerged.

Where can I find all the publications on the Global Society?

The pieces can be found at SPIEGEL ONLINE on the topic page Global Society.

Source: spiegel

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