While in Europe, anti-vaccine movements constitute one of the main threats to the health of its citizens, in other parts of the world they celebrate with great joy the arrival of the first vaccines delivered by a drone.
It has occurred on an island of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, where one in five children cannot get vaccinated due to complicated terrain conditions that prevent the safe transport of vaccines. But thanks to technology, a new hope opens so that children and pregnant women can improve their living and health conditions.
A one-month-old baby, the first in history to receive a vaccine given by a drone
His name is Joy Nowai and he is only one month old. He was born on a remote island of the Vanuatu archipelago, a South Pacific country consisting of 83 volcanic islands with very difficult access roads, which prevent vaccines from reaching 20 percent of children.
Joy could have been one of those babies who cannot be vaccinated for this reason, but thanks to an agreement reached by Unicef and the Vanuatu Ministry of Health, luck has changed for him and for many other children of these islands.
This little boy has become the first baby in history to receive a vaccine given by a drone, as part of an initiative in which a total of 13 children and five pregnant women have been immunized.The drone in charge of carrying the vaccines to the hidden village of Cook, in Vanuatu, flew over 40 km of rugged and mountainous areas with some styrofoam boxes with cold plates and electronic sensors, which monitored the temperature of the vaccines. Upon arrival at their destination, the vaccination box was received by certified nurses, who were responsible for providing it to children and pregnant women.
In Xataka UNICEF makes history by first delivering vaccines for children using dronesThe use of technology to improve humanitarian assistance
Via UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund sees a great opportunity in the use of drone technology to improve humanitarian assistance in places where terrain difficulties prevent vaccines from being transported safely.
This was explained by Miriam Nampil, a nurse from Unicef in Vanuatu, and responsible for providing the vaccines delivered by this drone:
"It is very difficult bring the refrigerators that preserve the cold chain of vaccines, through rivers, mountains, in the rain, or with a multitude of rocky ledges. Sometimes I had to rely on small local boats, but many times trips were canceled because of bad weather "
"Also, as the trip is usually long and difficult, I can only go there once a month to vaccinate the children. But now, with these drones, we hope to reach many more children in the most remote areas of the island. "
Given the success of the first flight of this small unmanned aircraft, the Government of the islands has already been interested in integrating this distribution model into its national health program, to transport medicines and other supplies.
For his part, Henrietta H. Fore, executive director of Unicef has shown that what happened has "enormous potential", not only for Vanuatu, but for the thousands of children around the world who do not have access to vaccines: "Today's small unmanned flight is a great leap for global health"
With the world still struggling to immunize the hardest to reach children, drone technologies can be a game changer for bridging that last mile to reach every child. //t.co/LrTbrDPQfG
- Henrietta H. Fore (@unicefchief) December 18, 2018
Via UNICEF
