Whirring in to rescue
In this small Pacific island country, drones have given a new meaning to life — literally.
The small island-country, known as New Hebrides till its independence in 1980, has a population of a little more than a quarter of a million people.
Vanuatu, as it is now known as, is an island country in South Pacific located about 1,090 miles from Australia. The country, whose economy principally rests on agriculture, tourism and cattle raising, was once claimed by France as well as United Kingdom.
Today, one of Vanuatu’s major healthcare component is dependent entirely on drones: the vaccination program.
Drones deliver vaccines to this island-country, solving much of its child healthcare challenge.
Drones: Healthcare by Air
Neither its economy nor its geography make things easier for the local government to reach out to children in all its constituent islands.
It was a pressing problem to solve; 1 in every 5 children is inadequately vaccinated.
The lack of electricity in many of its villages makes storage of vaccines nearly impossible because many vaccines need to stored under refrigeration. Besides that, the local terrain is mostly mountainous and roads are far and few.
With all these limitations, an out-of-the-box solution was the only way to go.
Supplying vaccines by drones was the optimum answer.
Drones don’t need roads. Further, they were economically viable. Besides, just-in-time delivery of vaccines also meant the problem of storing under refrigeration was obviated.
So finally, drones landed in Cook’s Bay, traveling nearly 40 kilometers, carrying vaccines in ice-packs.
On December 18, 2018 a one-month boy Joy Nowai in Cook’s Bay, Vanuatu became the first child ever to receive vaccines that were delivered commercially by drones.
Henrietta H Fore, UNICEF Executive Director made a statement that echoed Neil Armstrong’s statement: “Today’s small flight by drone is a big leap for global health.”
The nurse Miriam Nampil vaccinated Joy and a few more children and pregnant mothers. Nampil recalls how, earlier it was extremely difficult to ensure timely delivery of vaccines in villages. carrying them “while walking across rivers, mountains, through the rain, across rocky ledges…. (or) on boats, which often get cancelled due to bad weather,”
The entire operation was tested about 2 weeks before the actual execution.
This is in sharp contrast to news of governments using cameras, drones and similar devices for surveillance to track, measure and direct the movements and actions of citizens and corporates.
About Vanuatu
Much of Vanuatu’s ancient history is unknown. Experts believe Austronesian people were the first to reach this land and settle here, over 3,000 years back.
In the early 17th century European seafarers noticed this island ( the first European to find Vanuatu was the Portuguese Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, who, some claim, was also the first one to discover Australia). It again remained untouched for another century and a half, before the second rush of Europeans.
By the mid 19th century it was turned into a cotton plantation colony. After some sporadic friction, the British and French authorities agreed to administer the tiny nation jointly — even the then-accepted flag was actually a combo of French and British national flags.
The forming of the first political party in 1970 gradually strengthened the demand for independence from the two powers. Finally, the Republic of Vanuatu was established in 1980.
Its 83 constituent islands that form the six provinces (Malampa, Penama,
Sanma, Shefa, Tafea and Torba) are not always easy to reach. As this NYT report notes, some of them are accessible only by ‘banana boats’.
