Many Vanuatu villages are reachable only by small boats or mountain footpaths that become bogs when it rains. And most villages don’t have electricity to refrigerate vaccines.
For these reasons, about 20 percent of Vanuatu’s 35,000 children under age 5 do not get all their shots, according to the UNICEF.
On Dec. 17, 1-month-old Joy Nowai was the first Vanuatu resident to receive vaccines delivered by a flying drone, including shots for hepatitis and tuberculosis.
Vanuatu is the only country in the world to make its childhood vaccine program officially drone-dependent.
With support from UNICEF, the Australian government and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the country launched its drone program Dec 17.
The program will initially serve three islands but may be expanded.
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