Vanuatu has a tropical climate and over 80% of the population lives in rural, isolated villages with access to their own gardens and food supplies.
Official statistics show infant mortality declined during the last half of the twentieth century, from 123 deaths per 1,000 population in 1967 to 25 per 1,000 in 1999.
Vanuatu government health and education services are hard pressed to deal with the rapid increase of urban and peri-urban populations in informal and squatter settlements around Port Vila and to a lesser extent in Luganville.
[6] A scheme, backed by UNICEF in October 2018 for two commercial drone companies to deliver vaccines to 39 remote villages has aroused considerable interest.
The drones can fly up to 100 km and carry 2.5 kg and they could be used to deliver medication or to collect samples for analysis much more cost-effectively than conventional methods.