Deliver anything from vaccines to lightbulbs to tonight’s dinner.
Study shows Zipline drone delivery improves clinical outcomes and prevented disease among children in Ghana’s Western-North Region.
A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Vaccine, “An impact assessment of the use of aerial logistics to improve access to vaccines in the Western-North Region of Ghana,” showed that Zipline drone delivery improved clinical outcomes and prevented disease among children in Ghana’s Western-North Region.
Since 2019, Zipline has served health facilities in the region by storing vaccines at distribution centers and delivering them, on-demand, via drone. Not only has this saved lives, the study shows, but Zipline service also reduced missed opportunities for vaccination, shortened stockouts and improved provider satisfaction. Moreover, Zipline-served areas showed improved routine vaccination rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, when global routine vaccination rates declined.
Key Findings
Zipline delivery has saved an estimated 727 lives in the Western-North Region by enabling an additional 15,000 children under five years old to access vaccines.
Also, compared to other health facilities, those served by Zipline saw, on average:
A 30% reduction in the duration of vaccine stockouts.
A 44% reduction in missed opportunities for vaccination.
An increase between 13 and 37 percentage points in the number of patients vaccinated.
An 0.8 point increase (from 7.8 to 8.6 on a scale of 1-10) in average healthcare provider satisfaction score
The overwhelming majority of healthcare providers surveyed (96%) reported better access to vaccines in their district due to Zipline.