Drones are Used to Deliver Life-Saving Vaccines to the Remote Pacific Islands Leave a comment
Drones are Used to Deliver Life-Saving Vaccines to the Remote Pacific Islands
Regardless of the fact that we live in the 21st century, still, there are locations that are difficult to reach. Sometimes, people living in these places also require medical assistance, but it is difficult to reach these places. Right now we mean small but remote communities residing in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. People, living there need life-saving vaccines. Yet still, it is an issue to deliver medicines there.
Scientist developed a solution – to deliver life-saving vaccines through the use of drones!
The main problem of such islands is that all of them have very poor infrastructure. These islands are inhabited, but some districts really can’t make boast of proper roads. For that reason, the variant to buy drones and use them as the delivery tools is a great alternative.
Right now, a real “drone army” is engaged in testing this program. The prime objective of the trial program is to analyze the efficiency, capacity and even effectiveness of UAVs. Scientists just wish to check whether drones can really get vaccines to areas that are difficult to access. The UN children’s agency Unicef is one of the main sponsors of this program. Besides, the government of Vanuatu also supports it. In case the testing program proves that it is really working, drones will soon be integrated into the national provincial systems.
Why Vanuatu is in Need of the Drone Delivery Program
In sober fact, this country is regarded to be one of the poorest ones in the world. Its population is around 270,000 people but all of them are spread across more than 80 islands.
In 2015 the citizens of this country faced a tragedy in the form of a monster cyclone, which caused a serious damage to the islands. The estimated cost of damage is around $450 m. A third part of the population can’t even access the basic services. The percentage of the infant mortality is also huge (mostly because of the absence of so required vaccines). For that reason, to sustain high rates of immunization, the problem of delivering vaccines need to be solved.
Due to the fact that the drone cost is gradually lowering and UAVs became more available, the possibility to save these people and give them an opportunity to get medical aid grows.
The trial of a drone delivery program is going to be completed until the end of 2018. The thing that the drone technology can save hundreds of lives is really great. Thanks to the invention of UAVs, many people living in remote areas and requiring medical aid really have more chances to get it on time. As we see, medicine is one of those areas, where the drone use is crucially important.
