Finally, the state of Kaduna in Nigeria can rightfully boast of a fully-fledged drone-based medical logistics network in operation.

After first shaking hands on a partnership with drone logistics company in February last year; and after conducting successful trials in June this year, the first Zips have dropped medical Galadimawa health centre to mark the proper commencement of drone-based medical delivery in the state.

Deliveries were also made to other health facilities in the state, which include Kauru.

In June, the healthcare authorities and Zipline said they will be initially operating from three distribution hubs in the state, delivering to around 500 health centres and serving close to 9,5 million people across an area of 46,000 square kilometres.

But overall, the plan is to cover the over 1,000 health centres in the whole state, across 60,000 square kilometres. Given the amount of input involved in getting a massive project of this scale off the ground – setting up the hubs and stocking them with medical supplies, getting the necessary concessions to fly the drones, among other requirements; we figure the parties thought to go with the first three hubs while working out on how to serve the rest of the state.

And they are making good their promise too; yesterday, Catherine Odiase, the Zipline general manager in Nigeria said she was proud to let the world know that the first of the medical supplies had been successfully delivered to Galadimawa, Kauru, among other health care facilities in line for the initial phase of the operation.

This follows the approval of the application to commence autonomous drone delivery by the aviation authorities.

“The company is pleased to have received the necessary regulatory approval to be able to support the health needs of the community,” Odiase said in a statement that also voiced her company’s gratitude to the aviation regulators for their fruitful engagements during the trial phase.

“Our technology has proven to be a great resource in helping governments to achieve access to universal healthcare. We remain committed to support the Kaduna state government in meeting its target through efficient delivery of medical commodities and other products as will be agreed, to all parts of the state.

“The commodities will be delivered within 40 minutes or less from our distribution hub.’’

She pledged the readiness of Zipline to continue to partner with governments to ensure no one in the country was left behind in access to basic healthcare delivery services.

Odiase added that over the years, Zipline had demonstrated its ability to work with governments and health systems to transform health supply chains to be accessible and work more effectively.

The ground-breaking deliveries are being made from Pambegua where the first distribution hub was set up to support the Kaduna government’s effort to expedite medical logistics within the state.

“The first of three distribution hubs of Zipline to be sited in Kaduna has the capacity of delivering medical supplies to over 500 health facilities within 80km radius at a speed of 110km per hour.’’

Additionally, Zipline also has the capacity to deliver other products including animal health vaccines and e-commerce products.

Nigeria is the third African country to use Zipline services, following national-scale operations in Ghana and Rwanda, with operations in Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire set to follow suit.