In a letter posted earlier today I raised the prospect delivering medical supplies in the Solomon Islands by using drones.
I know that UNICEF arranged for drones to be used in Vanuatu to carry vaccinations across rugged mountains in 2018 but I am not sure whether the practice of using drones is continuing.
In 2018 I recall that a small baby received an important vaccine in an isolated village in Vanuatu after a drone delivered the vaccine in a Styrofoam box to an awaiting nurse in the village.
The medicine was then used by local nurse Miriam Nampil to vaccinate 13 children and five pregnant women.
At the time, UNICF’s Executive Director in Vanuatu, speaking about the vaccine delivery said, Today's small flight by drone is a big leap for global health,"
"With the world still struggling to immunize the hardest to reach children, drone technologies can be a game changer for bridging that last mile to reach every child."
While drones have been used before to deliver medicine, Unicef said (in 2018) this was the first time globally that a country had contracted a commercial drone company to get vaccines to remote areas.
Two companies, Australia's Swoop Aero and Germany's Wingcopter, were chosen to conduct drone delivery trials in 2018 in Vanuatu.
Source: BBC
Comment.
I am confident that drone technology has advanced significantly since 2018 and perhaps it would be worthwhile the Solomon Islands Government contacting UNICEF to see whether the use of drones could be used by the MHMS in making air deliveries of medical supplies to remote locations, such Tikopia in the future.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
