Zipline partners GHS, Gavi in new access programme

Some 68 hard-to-reach communities across the country will benefit from a two-year extensive vaccine delivery program aimed at addressing difficulties in accessing healthcare.

The new vaccine access programme inaugurated at Onemaku near Suhum in the Eastern Region region is being championed by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with Gavi and Zipline, aimed at serving hard-to-reach areas across the country from 2024 to 2026.

Fifteen million doses of vaccines have been delivered so far through the existing programme, which has impacted the lives of more than 17 million Ghanaians since 2019, with the expansion initiative expected to see 68 new, underserved areas being covered.

In an interview after the launch, the Country Lead, Sales and Partnership for Zipline Ghana, Daniel Kwaku Merki, in an interview outlined the relevance of partnering with various stakeholders to utilise data gathered to address challenges holistically.

“In terms of interventions in Ghana, Zipline has been operating in the country since 2019. We did a lot of vaccine deliveries starting from the COVID-19 era but also continuing, as you can see with today’s programme,” he noted.

Detailing the number of vaccines delivered so far and its relative impact on health delivery, he said, “In terms of vaccines, so far we have delivered more than 15 million doses of vaccines, and we have had a tremendous impact in also extending our services to hard-to-reach areas and areas that were really hard to be served beforehand.”

On his part, the Director of Public Health, Frank Asiedu Bekoe, speaking to the press on behalf of the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, commended Zipline’s transformative role in addressing healthcare accessibility challenges in hard-to-reach areas.

He said, “The Ministry of Health and Zipline has been in this partnership since 2019. It was mainly to address the issues of access, and so Zipline came in to address that gap, and this has been going on for the past five years.”

He added: “So for some time now, we have been working together purposely to address this issue of hard-to-reach areas and other emergencies.”