Ghana won’t use taxpayers money to implement the drone delivery service which will supply blood and medicines

December 20, 2018 1:50 PM

The government of Ghana has assured its citizens that the use of drones to supply essential and lifesaving medical supplies in the country will not be borne by the taxpayer.

Drones to supply blood and medicines in Ghana

Nevertheless, Corporate Social Responsibility contributions from private sector players would be used to pay for the service.

President Akufo-Addo, the country’s president gave this assurance on Wednesday when he addressed the end of year media encounter at the Jubilee House in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

He said that the programme would not be run on the public budget.

Recently, the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) including other civil society organizations had criticized government over the implementation of the drone project, describing it as unimportant, expensive and a drain on the taxpayer.

The project, which is the world's largest drone network, would have four distribution centres, from where the drones will be operating from and will be stocked with 148 lifesaving and essential medical supplies and not only blood.

The President revealed that the drone delivery service would save lives, decrease wastage, and guarantee healthcare access to more than 14 million people nationwide, with more than 200 Ghanaians being employed.

The further added that “the procurement process will enable every constituency in the county to get one ambulance each in the early part of next year.”

This, Nana Akuffo thinks “will not solve the ambulance problem immediately, but it certainly shows more commitment to finding a solution that the country has ever seen.”

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mrs Christine Lagarde, has lauded the Rwandan government’s decision to employ the use of drone technology to supply blood and other essential medical supplies to her citizens.

This same drone delivery service is what the government wants to implement in the country to solve some challenges in the health sector.

Nana Addo then said, "I prefer drones flying to deliver essential medicines to our people than an investment in guinea fowls that allegedly fly off to Burkina Faso without any trace.”