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The years when all flood-prone communities in Northern Ghana were disturbingly rendered inaccessible as far as delivery of essential medical supplies is concerned during rainy seasons, are now things of the past.

Zipline is using its Vobsi medical drone delivery Centre, strategically located at Vobsi near Walewale in the North East Region, to deliver essential medical supplies to health facilities in some of the Northern belt areas of Ghana.

The Vobsi Centre, which has been in operation for a while now was officially commissioned by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on Saturday, September 12, 2020.

General Manager of Zipline Ghana, Daniel Marfo, speaking at the commissioning ceremony, says the Vobsi Centre will supply medical products to about 500 health facilities in the five regions of the North.

“Several other communities such as Sakogu and Fumbisi, who during the rainy season have no access to medicines because of the state of their roads, for the first time in years, now have access to blood and medical products from our delivery site. As at 12 pm on Saturday, the Vobsi centre had already delivered 40 packages these cut-off areas, for that day only,” he said.

Movements in parts of the North East region have been restricted due to floods caused by weeks of torrential rains coupled with the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso.

Gbintiri and Zorko health centres are two examples of communities which without the services of the Zipline drone would not have access to medical supplies as they have been cut off.

Meanwhile, Mr. Marfo says Zipline has delivered a total of 122,000 units of medical commodities, including blood to over 1,000 health facilities across all four distribution centres in the country using the technology.

The company, he noted, has also delivered COVID-19 samples, sanitizers and PPE to testing centres as well as some health centres in the country during the COVID-19 lockdown period.