The Republic of Vanuatu is a Y-shaped archipelago consisting of 83 relatively small islands of volcanic origin that run 1600 kilometers north to south. Many islands and villages are accessible only by boat, and the roads on the major islands only connect the most important towns and villages. Roads are in bad condition, and they are flooded or washed away quite often due to the predominant climate conditions.

Due to these limitations, vaccine and health supply logistics are expensive, risky, and unreliable. Mobile teams are frequently required to walk to villages and communities in remote areas carrying temperature-sensitive vaccines and equipment. MoH, in assessment with UNICEF, is exploring the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, as a quick, reliable, and effective mode of transportation to deliver vaccines from main health facilities to dispensaries, aid post, and mobile vaccination teams. It also includes maintaining the cargo temperature between 2 and 8 Celsius degrees -to ensure the cold chain is not interrupted and the vaccines are delivered in optimal condition. 

The primary objective of the project is to test the technical feasibility and economical sustainability of including this new mode of transportation into the existing Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) as a last-mile delivery resource. To achieve this objective, Ministry of Health is seeking to contract up to three service contractors through a government procurement process. Three (3) Request for Tender (RFT) processes for physical services, for Pentecost, Epi & Shepherds, and Erromago islands respectively, have been officially issued.