Zipline, Global Health Impact and Fulfillment Operations, Nii Akuboye Street, Dzornaman (GD-166-7058), P.O. Box CT 9109, Accra, Ghana.
Ghana Health Service, Western North Regional Health Directorate, 5FQX+93, Anhweam, Ghana.
Vaccine. 2023 Aug 14;41(36):5245-5252. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.06.036. Epub 2023 Jun 19.
Prevention of infectious diseases among children is crucial to improve child health and survival. However, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa struggle to achieve vaccination targets due to supply chain challenges, which lead to vaccine shortages, stockouts, and increased costs. We evaluated the effects of aerial logistics (centralized storage and delivery by drones) on vaccine stock, stockouts, vaccination coverage and vaccine preventable outcomes in the Western North Region of Ghana.
The study combined retrospective quasi-experimental and cross-sectional designs to evaluate supply chain, programmatic, and clinical outcomes. Surveys to health providers were used to collect information from a random sample of 156 facilities, and secondary data on vaccination coverage and clinical outcomes was analyzed at the district level for the years 2017-2021.
Facilities served by aerial logistics reported significant reductions in the duration of vaccine stockouts (30 %, p-value < 0.05), as well as in the frequency of missed opportunities for vaccination (44 %, p-value < 0.05). Being served by aerial logistics was associated with increased satisfaction with access to vaccines. Significant differences in vaccination coverage were found for most vaccines, in a range between 13.1 and 37.5 percentage points in vaccination coverage for served districts. Infectious diarrhea cases in children between 5 and 9 years old were reduced by 41.6 % (p-value < 0.05).
End-to-end aerial logistics appears as an effective tool to improve the performance of the supply chain for vaccines. The strategy potentially increases the resilience of the health system and contributes to increased vaccination coverage and higher levels of satisfaction among providers in the Western North Region of Ghana.
预防儿童传染病对于改善儿童健康和生存至关重要。然而，由于供应链挑战，撒哈拉以南非洲的许多国家难以实现疫苗接种目标，这些挑战导致疫苗短缺、缺货和成本增加。我们评估了空中物流（通过无人机进行集中存储和配送）对加纳西北地区疫苗库存、缺货、疫苗接种覆盖率和疫苗可预防结果的影响。
该研究结合了回顾性准实验和横断面设计，以评估供应链、规划和临床结果。对卫生服务提供者进行了调查，以从 156 个随机抽样的设施中收集信息，并对 2017-2021 年的地区一级疫苗接种覆盖率和临床结果进行了二次数据分析。
通过空中物流提供服务的设施报告称，疫苗缺货持续时间显著缩短（30%，p 值<0.05），错过接种机会的频率也显著降低（44%，p 值<0.05）。通过空中物流提供服务与对疫苗获取的满意度提高有关。在大多数疫苗中都发现了接种覆盖率的显著差异，服务地区的接种覆盖率差异在 13.1%至 37.5%之间。5 至 9 岁儿童的感染性腹泻病例减少了 41.6%（p 值<0.05）。
端到端的空中物流似乎是改善疫苗供应链绩效的有效工具。该策略提高了卫生系统的弹性，有助于提高加纳西北地区的疫苗接种覆盖率和提供者的满意度。
