Governor Nasir El- Rufai of Kaduna State said the state government has signed a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding with a private medical group to deploy Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), better known as, drones, to deliver vaccines and other medical supplies to residents of the state.
The governor who disclosed this in a chat with newsmen said the state government took the major step towards reversing the losses to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has cost the state 57 lives, as at February 6.
According to statistics from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 7804 persons have been infected with the virus in the state while 7467 persons were treated and discharged, 280 cases are on admission.
This method of procurement and distribution of vaccines and medications is a novelty in Nigeria pioneered by the state government as other states are reportedly negotiating with the company to enter a similar working relationship.
The clamour for the company’s services was influenced by the success rate of the medical delivery firm, Zipline, which has the distinction of having delivered more than one million doses of other vaccines in Africa over the past year.
The novel delivery of vaccines and other drugs in Kaduna is planned to start in the second quarter with 30 drones working full time from three distribution centres.
To accomplish this goal, el-Rufai said the state government has upgraded 255 primary health centres, installed a pharmagrade warehouse and is recruiting and training 3,000 officers to manage the facilities.