The Government of Bayelsa State, Nigeria and Zipline, the global leader in instant logistics, have today, announced a partnership with Sterling and DrugStoc aimed at leveraging Zipline’s drone technology to deliver
essential medicines, blood and other medical commodities to health facilities within the state.
By this agreement, Zipline will establish a distribution hub in Bayelsa State for the introduction, operation, and maintenance of a just-in-time instant logistics solutions to ensure that essential drugs, blood and a selection of other life-saving medical supplies are available to the State health facilities in Bayelsa State.
DrugStoc, a cloud based pharmatech company, which partners with over 400 manufacturers plugged into her ecosystem, will ensure that essential pharmaceuticals are available within the supply chain at the right time, right place, and quality, cost
effectively to the people of Bayelsa. Drugstoc will establish and operate a number of fulfillment and experience centers that will enable a more adaptive and responsive
supply chain delivering essential medicines, and life saving healthcare supplies for the State.
When completed, the service will operate 24hours a day, seven days a week, day or night, from the distribution center which will be equipped with Zipline’s proprietary fleet of drones.
“We remain well committed to delivering an aggressive agenda of building a dependable health delivery system in Bayelsa, part of which has given birth to this partnership. We envisage that this partnership will remain one of the most significant
ways of removing the access barriers that mitigates easy delivery of medical commodities to our health facilities;†said H.E. Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State.
“Even distribution of on-demand medical commodities to remote and hard-to-reach areas do not only safe lives but also become a significant way of managing waste that
happens as a result of expiry of medicinesâ€
“Zipline is pleased to partner with the people and Government of Bayelsa to advance instant, autonomous healthcare delivery across the state,†said Zipline CEO, Keller Rinaudo.
“This partnership is an important milestone for Zipline as we scale smart, safe and just-in-time delivery technology and transform how goods move around the globe.â€
The Snr. Vice President for Zipline Africa, Daniel Marfo assured that Zipline will begin the construction process immediately so as to stay within the agreed timelines. “We are
committed to rapidly meeting our side of this agreement, part of which entails building of a distribution hub from where we will store and deliver the medical commodities and
employ hundreds local team members from Bayelsa.
Our system is well tested across
Africa and the United States, and there is no doubt that it is a giant step in expanding universal healthcare access in Nigeria.â€
“Our membership and role in this consortium resounds our commitment to transforming
the healthcare sector in Nigeria; one partnership and project at a timeâ€, said Obinna Ukachukwu, Divisional Head, Health & Education Finance, Sterling Bank.
“With each transformative collaboration, we seek to take the Nigerian population one step closer to a healthcare system that meets their needs at every turn. Each member of this consortium is working towards one crucial goal for the Bayelsa state government and
her people; to make healthcare better. This vision drives the H in our HEART strategy and is the sole reason we are in this business.”
“DrugStoc is excited to work with the people of Bayelsa to transform healthcare outcomes by working with partners to provide an end to end solution that will impact the
availability of life saving medicines and healthcare commodities in healthcare facilities across the State,†said Mr Adham Yehia, the President of DrugStoc. The CEO, Dr
Chibuzo Opara, further stated that DrugStoc, would bring to bear the strength of her relationships, experience and resources, garnered while working with over 3000
healthcare providers on her platform, to ensure that this project becomes a resounding success and a story to tell in the reformation of the Nigerian healthcare space.
On his part, the State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Pabara Newton Igwele said “This partnership is significant to us as it will complement our efforts in hitching up primary health care delivery services in Bayelsa. There is no doubt that leveraging technology
for medical delivery should be a game changer for even distribution of medical commoditiesâ€.
To ensure sustainability and continuous availability of medical products within the value chain for distribution, the Bayelsa State Government, represented by the Ministry of Health, has separately entered an agreement with DrugStoc, Health Spaces, Sterling
Bank and Zipline – forming a consortium.
This consortium, being led by Zipline, will ensure the availability of safe, quality and affordable drugs and medicines to all residents of the state in all its health facilities.
The Bayelsa signing follows Kaduna and Cross River states that have already signed onto the Zipline technology in Nigeria.
The revolutionary new service, which is expected to launch operations within six months
from construction, is part of the Government of Bayelsa State’s bold vision of using drone delivery to establish universal, seven-days-a-week access to lifesaving and critical medicines for most of its citizens over the coming years. Zipline drones will make
on-demand and emergency deliveries of blood products, vaccines, and life-saving
medications.
The Government of Bayelsa State’s vision is for Zipline to establish one distribution center, which is capable of covering most parts of the state. The government’s goal is to
put almost all of its citizens within minutes of a lifesaving medical delivery by drone
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