UNICEF Looking for Drones Companies to Deliver Vaccines in t…

UNICEF is looking for drone firms to ship urgently wanted medical provides throughout the distant island nation of Vanuatu.

Vanuatu consists of an archipelago of 83 islands in the South Pacific Ocean, protecting a complete space of roughly 994 miles. Of these islands 65 are inhabited, however solely 20 have roads and airports—and on these 20 islands, the street circumstances are sometimes dangerous, with the roads regularly flooded or washed away.


An image taken by drone in Vanuatu (picture supply)

Due to its distant location and underdeveloped infrastructure, delivering vaccines and different medical provides to the folks dwelling on the islands of Vanuatu might be extremely tough. Teams are often deployed to stroll on foot between villages, carrying temperature-sensitive vaccines and tools, but when the temperature climbs these vaccines can shortly degrade and grow to be ineffective.

Similar supply challenges contribute to a basic lack of provides at medical amenities in Vanuatu, which signifies that even when folks can get to a bigger city for medical assist there’s no assure the provides wanted shall be readily available.

And in fact, that is the place drone deliveries come in—as you would possibly already know, UNICEF just isn’t new to drone medical deliveries. Last 12 months they partnered with Zipline to create the primary air hall in Africa, which helped allow Zipline to ship over 7,000 models of blood throughout the nation of Rwanda.

Through its UNICEF Innovation division, UNICEF has been working with governments and company sponsors world wide to discover locations the place drones can be utilized for good, implementing them for humanitarian and developmental missions. Their web site has a web page devoted to drones, highlighting the facility drones current for use in “humanitarian and development affairs by their potential for imagery, connectivity, and transportation.”

Drone supply of life-saving vaccines has the potential to be an absolute sport changer, not solely for serving to individuals who stay in distant and intensely inaccessible areas, however in addressing consequent disparities in entry to well being providers.

– Felicity Weaver, Director of Programs at UNICEF Australia

Want to get a really feel for Vanuatu? Check out this aerial video shot there with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro:

More Information on UNICEF’s RFT for Vanuatu

According to the Request for Tender (RFT) posted on the UNICEF web site, they’re wanting for firms “to provide the logistical services to deliver vaccines via drones for the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Vanuatu.” The deadline to apply is June 20, 2018.

Here is the UNICEF Request for Tender:

MoH, in evaluation with UNICEF, is exploring using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, as a fast, dependable, and efficient mode of transportation to ship vaccines from most important well being amenities to dispensaries, help put up, and cellular vaccination groups. It additionally consists of sustaining the cargo temperature between 2 and eight Celsius levels -to make sure the chilly chain just isn’t interrupted and the vaccines are delivered in optimum situation.

The major goal of the undertaking is to check the technical feasibility and economical sustainability of together with this new mode of transportation into the prevailing Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) as a last-mile supply useful resource. To obtain this goal, Ministry of Health is looking for to contract up to three service contractors by means of a authorities procurement course of. Three (3) Request for Tender (RFT) processes for bodily providers, for Pentecost, Epi & Shephedrs, and Erromago islands respectively, have been formally issued (obtain a .pdf model of every RFT course of beneath).

The RFTs are usually not mutually unique and, if people or firms choose to apply, could outcome in them being contracted to present providers for a most of two of them.

Interested firms can be taught extra in regards to the RFT and the way to apply on the UNICEF web site.

Zacc Dukowitz

Director of Marketing

Zacc Dukowitz is the Director of Marketing for UAV Coach. A author with skilled expertise in schooling know-how and digital advertising and marketing, Zacc is enthusiastic about reporting on the drone business at a time when UAVs may help us stay higher lives. Zacc additionally holds the rank of nidan in Aikido, a Japanese martial artwork, and is a extensively revealed fiction author. Zacc has an MFA from the University of Florida and a BA from St. John’s College. Follow @zaccdukowitz or take a look at zaccdukowitz.com to learn his work.

Previous UAV Inspections: Drone Company Partners with Canadian Tech F…
Next Aeryon Labs and HAZON Solutions Combine the Best of Hardware…

Check Also

Editorial: Fine-tune drone policy-Telangana Today

As a sizable percentage of India’s drones continue to be imported, there is a need …

Facial Recognition Drones in Policing: New Surveillance Tool

What’s the news: Lucknow police will be using a Mobile drone vehicle (MDV) equipped with …