Samuel Noma: The face of hope as Kaduna prepares for medical emergencies Nigeria news

• Nigerian governments at all levels can now aspire to transform their respective health systems with instant delivery of medical supplies
• Many states in Nigeria are widely exposed to emergencies and medical emergencies due to lack of effective supplies.
• Initiative to easily serve all hard-to-reach medical facilities in Nigeria to be launched soon

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Accra – Nigerian pharmacist Samuel Timothy Noma is currently in Omenako in the eastern region of Ghana, interning at a facility operated by Zipline.

Zipline is the only last mile airline logistics company in the world to deliver daily medical products nationwide.

In February 2021, Zipline signed a memorandum of understanding for the drone delivery of medical aids, including vaccines, blood and other life-saving commodities with the Kaduna state government.

The facility is expected to be commissioned by September 2021.

Noma, 37, is in neighboring Ghana as an intern to learn how to deal with the rapid delivery of emergency commodities, provide timely re-supplies and respond to disasters from health workers in hard-to-reach areas.

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He told Nigerian reporters during a tour of the facility on Saturday August 6:

“I am currently working here with Zipline. I am part of the team that will set up the first installation in Kaduna.

“It’s really a privilege for me to be here. For me it is so dear to me because Kaduna is my place, it is where I have been and educated. So, we really understand the context in which Zipline is coming to deliver over there to Kaduna. “

Accelerate the transformation of health systems in Nigeria through autonomous and instant delivery

In September 2019, the Nigerian Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, requested the support of the World Bank for the establishment of an efficient network of emergency medical transport in rural communities.

Ehanire said the initiative would help address the challenges of medical emergencies in Nigeria.

The minister requested it when he received a team from the World Bank in his office in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

As the minister pushes for emergency response equipment to tackle emergencies to reduce preventable deaths, Zipline is already providing instant access to life-saving medical supplies for people in rural Ghana and in Rwanda, where its operations are already a success.

Noma shares her experience working in a zipline facility:

“For Zipline, one of the benefits is the medical emergency when you have cases where people don’t have access to medication. I’ve been here and seen cases where people call for a long time to say there is an incidence of postpartum hemorrhage.

“The nearest point for her to access medicine is about a two hour drive away. So that you can deliver to this location using a drone. Personally, I was able to deal with such a case.

How Zipline Provides End-to-End Solution to the Medical Industry

Daniel Marfo, senior vice president of Zipline, assured Nigerian journalists visiting Accra on Thursday (August 5th) that Zipline would transform the access and availability of routine and emergency drugs to Nigerians in the state.

His words:

“The new solution is to increase access and reduce medical waste, major stocks of blood products, vaccines and life-saving medicines. All of these will be stored in Zipline’s distribution centers for just-in-time delivery.

“Health workers will place orders by text or call and receive their deliveries quickly in an average of 30 minutes.

“Drones take off and land in Zipline distribution centers, requiring no additional infrastructure or manpower in the clinics they serve.

“Drones fly autonomously and can carry 1.8 kg of cargo, at a speed of 110 km / h, and have a round trip range of 160 km, even in high winds and rain.

He added that the service would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from three distribution centers each equipped with 30 drones and deliver to more than a thousand healthcare facilities, serving millions of people in the world. ‘Kaduna State.

He said the company also plans to invest in developing local content by employing and training people from Kaduna to work with the company.

According to him, the three distribution centers would be able to micro-target the delivery of more than six tons of medical products each week over more than 60,000 square kilometers.

He revealed that Zipline was duly registered with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Ministry of Health.

Marfo also assured that the organization maintains a high degree of security culture, adding that it is also in talks with other states in Nigeria and some African countries to sign up for the initiative.

For Noma, who contributes daily with his quota to saving lives in Ghana, he can’t wait for the initiative to kick off in his home state of Kaduna.

He said:

“Looking at the context of Kaduna, you can only imagine how many people in rural areas where it is difficult to get around by motorbike to reach them will benefit. I think it will have a huge impact because there is no cost in human life.

“No matter what it costs people to access medicine, it is the best that can happen to them.”

Legit.ng reported on the partnership between the Kaduna state government and Zipline in February 2021.

An enthusiastic governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said during the announcement:

“The agreement with Zipline builds on and adds value to our initiatives to strengthen the capacity of the Kaduna State health system.

“This new emergency drone delivery service is a great solution to instantly deliver vaccines, blood and other life-saving supplies when time is of the essence. This will help ensure that millions of people in Kaduna State will always receive the care they need. “

Likewise, in May 2021, the Cross River state government and Zipline announced a partnership.

State Governor Prof. Ben Ayade said:

“The goal of this partnership is to ensure that all barriers to the successful delivery of medical products to our people are removed.

“This is one of the many cutting-edge interventions that we are implementing to consolidate the gains we have made within the healthcare system. “

Source: Legitimate Journal