Ghana launched a fleet of drones Wednesday to carry medical supplies to remote areas, with President Nana Akufo-Addo declaring it would become the "world's largest drone delivery service."

The craft are part of an ambitious plan to leapfrog problems of medical access in a country with poor roads.

"No one in Ghana should die because they can't access the medicine they need in an emergency," Akufo-Addo said in a statement to mark the launch.

"That's why Ghana is launching the world's largest drone delivery service," Akufo-Addo said. "It represents a major step towards giving everyone in this country universal access to lifesaving medicine."

The drones have been flying test runs with blood and vaccines, but the project was officially inaugurated Wednesday at the main drone base in Omenako, 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of Accra.

Omenako is the first of four distribution centres which, when fully operational, will each have 30 drones serving 500 clinics within an 80-kilometre (50-mile) radius.

Operator Zipline, a US-based company, said the three other sites should be up and running by the end of 2019.

The drones are planned to ferry 150 different medicines, blood, and vaccines to more than 2,000 clinics serving over 12 million people—roughly 40 percent of the population.

Bumpy roads

Zipline first began delivering blood and medicine in East Africa in 2016, deploying drones in Rwanda, a country dubbed the "land of a thousand hills" where access to many villages by road is difficult.

Now the company is expanding on the other side of the continent.

"Millions of people across the world—in both developed and developing countries—die each year because they can't get the medicine they need when they need it," said Zipline boss Keller Rinaudo.

For Ghana, a country of nearly 30 million people scattered across a land area about the size of former colonial ruler Britain, poor roads and a lack of ambulances are major challenges to health care access.

Drones, not dependent on bumpy roads that can take hours to navigate, offer a way to get medical supplies to clinics before a patient bleeds to death, for example.

"We are a developing country," said Douglas Adu-Fokuo, a spokesman for the Ghana Health Service, noting that almost a third of maternal deaths are due to blood loss—easily preventable with a transfusion provided supplies are available.

"We can't achieve everything in one go," he added. "We have to start somewhere."

Parachute drops

The four-year contract to Zipline has a hefty price tag of $12.5 million (11 million euros).

But the company says the cost is "on par with the current cost of delivery, which is usually a car, truck or motorcycle", yet faster and more reliable.

Medics can order blood or medicine by sending a message by mobile phone.

Each battery-powered flying machine has a delivery distance of 80 kilometres (50 miles), speeding at 100 kilometres (62 miles) an hour and carry up to 1.7 kilogrammes (3.7 pounds).

Each drop can bring three units of blood, with deliveries made by parachute.

The drones are stoked at their depot to ensure that vaccines and supplies are kept cold, cutting the need for expensive cold-chain storage systems in remote areas.

Once the programme is up and running, plasma deliveries can be made for the first time to Ghana's most remote northern areas. The journey by road was too long, and the expiry date of plasma too short, to make this possible until now.
© 2019 AFP


Source : https://phys.org/news/2019-04-ghana-eyes-world-medical-drone.amp

how much

fabre4:


Nice dog. Watch your environment parvo doesn't easily go away, it could take up to two years so maybe you can change it's environment try to sanitize the place it stays constantly and it's feeding equipment. GSD rock.

Thanks bro. Did a lot of sanitation.....I wash his plates everyday. Prepare fresh meals everyday.......

jessejagga:
looks good what am seeing is still a small puppy probably 5 to 6weeks old the ears will definitely stand, make sure he gets all his vaccine

Thanks bro. Vaccine and deworming on point . Will keep you posted as he grows

jessejagga:
lemmi see as for the ears can take up to 3month

ok. Thanks. That means there's still time . Noticed the left ear standing today .But it dropped again. The guy is hyperactive, doesn't rest .Happy dog

This is the new GSD

jessejagga:
oh sorry i know how it feels,i lost my first GSD slant back to Parvo, the second 1 had an accident we tried our best even took x-ray photo bt still lost her ... U will b fine bro

Thanks.. Got another GSD.. So far he's doing fine. I don't know if you'll see this. I want to post his pix for you to rate him.. Plus his ears have refused to get erect... Any reason?

people just cross anything they like . See the dog's eyes , did you apply eye pencil ? The dog looks strange but not so bad . Likely a boerboel and Local dog

lwkmd. ....This dog is no GSD

123papas:
You dog was mated by a local dog not that male in the picture.

my brother, I just bought one of those pups and you're wrong. The pup is of high quality. Very agile and huge .
Please it's wrong for you to give out false information.

I once trained my GSD with cane...Especially potty training. He turned out fine ..But na occasional flogging, not everytime

Talking without thinking.Na una way

Lovely guys you've got. Full squad.
But how easy is it training 3 dogs?

123papas:
You dog was mated by a local dog not that male in the picture.

Wow..How so?

Price

Still available? Male needed.....Any pix of parents?

Are these puppies still available

jessejagga:
awww thats sad, have u dewormed him? let him get all his shot, Parvo is deadly o.....i pray its not parvo

He has taken everything possible.. As I type this, he taking his last breaths.. Gasping and jerking.. I'm down... My second loss in 2 months

jessejagga:
lol not mongrel ooo, the reason i could not guess the age is because u only upload a pic of the Dog sitting down, i need to see a pic of d dog lying down bt since d ears r up, would b 3 months + i guess, Ur GSD is a good 1,am sure he/she plays alot.

You're a genius.. 3months...problem is he sleeps all day and has been ill for a week.. Vomiting and diarrhea.. Loss of appetite.. Doesn't play

jessejagga:

lol am not sir please, sorry have not been online for a while
and your GSD is cute i like the black mouth, the legs are fat good 1 ....the ears r up already, nice top breed

Thank you. though I'm wondering why you didn't give any score and guess the age like you did for op.
If my dog is a mongrel just tell me. I can bear it

frank202012:


gsd re pecky eaters,deworm her at when due.
and give multivitamin

You're right..He just tastes a little of everything. Seems to like only chicken.
I've deformed. Will deworm again next month

Namdeenero:
Nice dog

Thank you

frank202012:

ur dog looks nice with erect ears,that's one of the features of a good gsd.....
feed her well....

Thank you

frank202012:

ur dog looks nice with erect ears,that's one of the features of a good gsd.....
feed her well....

The guy doesn't like food . I've tried everything except eba

Lloydthesaint:

Maybe rot

Ok, Thanks.
Looks like the one op posted . How do you differentiate the 2 since they look alike please?

Lloydthesaint:

My brother that’s a mixed breed

mixed with what and what

Fake news . Fake pix

jessejagga:
pretty good i will guess 4 months old, its just a normal GSD lemmi give it 7

Please sir , rate mine

Your pup looks like mine

vincentjk:
Goodmorning petlanders, this morning i was training my two dogs on attack/protection training with a friend, my boerboel mistakenly bit me on the arm which touched my vains (feeling some pains though). the problem is that the anti-rabbies vaccine was suppose to be given on the 8th of last year but i failed to, should i be worried or is it nothing to worry about?

Your worry should not be rabies but tetanus and any other bacteria infection.
Have the wound properly irrigated .
See a doctor(not "chemist" )for proper anaerobic Cover.
Meanwhile how do I reach you on guidance on protection training for my dog

Ayam tired of Nigeria