In Ghana’s Ashanti region, the rollout of Zipline drones for delivering medicines and blood has significantly reduced mortality among women in childbirth by 56%. The number of visits by pregnant people to clinics increased by 20%, and the number of births occurring in medical facilities rose by 26%. These figures were collected in a five-year, interdisciplinary study covering 103 medical institutions.
The drones deliver life-saving supplies within 5–30 minutes, including to remote villages, enabling a faster response in severe childbirth cases and other emergencies. Healthcare workers also report increased trust among patients, lower logistics costs, and improved operational speed.
Ghana is not the first and only example: Rwanda has also been using drones in healthcare. But in Ashanti, the Zipline technology showed a rare combination of effectiveness, scale, and real impact on people’s well-being.
Source: BMC Health Services Research (2025-05-28)
