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Drones: Bridging the last mile in Africa
Published: 7 October 2020
Contributor: Graham Ravenhill
Vast distances, poor infrastructure, remote locations just some of the physical challenges facing medical staff providing health care to large parts of Africa’s population. Can drones provide a solution to tackle the challenges of last-mile Medical services to remote locations? Innovation and technological development of drone capabilities are certainly providing a tantalising glimpse into future possibilities of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) for use in medical provision in remote locations and disaster and relief management and prevention.
“Improvements in battery life, GPS navigation and artificial intelligence functions are making drones a more practical option in healthcare, says Dr. Daniel Kraft, faculty chair for medicine and neuroscience at Singularity University, an executive education program that also serves as a business incubator and consultancy service. “It’s in this area now where things have converged to make drones fast and cheap, and they meet an important unmet need in many parts of the world,” Kraft says, noting that the devices can handle obstacles such as mountain ranges and road closures.” (Horowitz, April)
In a continent where one billion people do not have access to all-weather roads UAV’s are being harnessed to provide vital medical care. Zipline is a San Francisco start-up that has formed a partnership with the Rwandan Government to deliver blood products to difficult to reach locations. The Rwandan Government’s vision is to put all of its citizens within a 15 to 35-minute window of any essential medical product that they could need. Zipline’s COO, Will Hetzler says their product makes it not only possible but affordable for countries to provide reliable access to central medicines for all their citizens.
Partnering with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Verizon and Rider Vayu Drones are operating in Madagascar to deliver stool and blood samples to the country’s central laboratory for testing. Capable of vertical take-off and landing, Vayu’s drones have the advantage of being able to deliver medications and collect samples from remote locations so allow a two-way medical link for difficult to access regions.
Global health NPO VillageReach has teamed up with drone company Matternet and is working to understand the use of drones for product delivery in low-resource environments. They also design and implement UAS solutions to generate evidence for payload delivery and other potential applications in the public health sector. Their team is currently leading the testing of UAS in Malawi, Mozambique and DRC. In addition, VillageReach provides technical assistance around drone project implementation to local partners. (Drones for Health, n.d.)
In Partnership with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), UNICEF established The African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) in January 2020.
The ADDA course combines theoretical and practical methodologies in making, testing and flying drones. The curriculum allows young people to learn how to construct and pilot drones, to integrate them into a supply chain system and to analyse drone data. It follows UNICEF’s ‘Drones and Data for Good’ vision, focusing on the potential of technology to deliver positive results for every child.
While medical drones have the potential to resolve persistent transportation challenges, ensuring reliable access to medicines, according to Susan Turog et al. life-saving interventions can be stalled if local community concerns and preferences are not assessed and addressed. They furthermore state that “the extent to which a community understands and supports the use of drones to transport health products will ultimately play a critical role in the success or failure of the drone’s ability to bring life-saving products to those who need them”. (Truog,S et al, 2020)
Bibliography
Disclaimer
This article is compiled from a variety of resources researched and compiled by the contributor. It is in no way presented as an original work. Every effort has been made to correctly attribute quotes and content. Where possible all information has been independently verified. The Medical Education Network bears no responsibility for any inaccuracies which may occur from the use of third-party sources. If you have any queries regarding this article contact us
Drones: Bridging the last mile in Africa
Published: 7 October 2020
Contributor: Graham Ravenhill
Vast distances, poor infrastructure, remote locations just some of the physical challenges facing medical staff providing health care to large parts of Africa’s population. Can drones provide a solution to tackle the challenges of last-mile Medical services to remote locations? Innovation and technological development of drone capabilities are certainly providing a tantalising glimpse into future possibilities of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) for use in medical provision in remote locations and disaster and relief management and prevention.
“Improvements in battery life, GPS navigation and artificial intelligence functions are making drones a more practical option in healthcare, says Dr. Daniel Kraft, faculty chair for medicine and neuroscience at Singularity University, an executive education program that also serves as a business incubator and consultancy service. “It’s in this area now where things have converged to make drones fast and cheap, and they meet an important unmet need in many parts of the world,” Kraft says, noting that the devices can handle obstacles such as mountain ranges and road closures.” (Horowitz, April)
In a continent where one billion people do not have access to all-weather roads UAV’s are being harnessed to provide vital medical care. Zipline is a San Francisco start-up that has formed a partnership with the Rwandan Government to deliver blood products to difficult to reach locations. The Rwandan Government’s vision is to put all of its citizens within a 15 to 35-minute window of any essential medical product that they could need. Zipline’s COO, Will Hetzler says their product makes it not only possible but affordable for countries to provide reliable access to central medicines for all their citizens.
Partnering with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Verizon and Rider Vayu Drones are operating in Madagascar to deliver stool and blood samples to the country’s central laboratory for testing. Capable of vertical take-off and landing, Vayu’s drones have the advantage of being able to deliver medications and collect samples from remote locations so allow a two-way medical link for difficult to access regions.
Global health NPO VillageReach has teamed up with drone company Matternet and is working to understand the use of drones for product delivery in low-resource environments. They also design and implement UAS solutions to generate evidence for payload delivery and other potential applications in the public health sector. Their team is currently leading the testing of UAS in Malawi, Mozambique and DRC. In addition, VillageReach provides technical assistance around drone project implementation to local partners. (Drones for Health, n.d.)
In Partnership with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), UNICEF established The African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) in January 2020.
The ADDA course combines theoretical and practical methodologies in making, testing and flying drones. The curriculum allows young people to learn how to construct and pilot drones, to integrate them into a supply chain system and to analyse drone data. It follows UNICEF’s ‘Drones and Data for Good’ vision, focusing on the potential of technology to deliver positive results for every child.
While medical drones have the potential to resolve persistent transportation challenges, ensuring reliable access to medicines, according to Susan Turog et al. life-saving interventions can be stalled if local community concerns and preferences are not assessed and addressed. They furthermore state that “the extent to which a community understands and supports the use of drones to transport health products will ultimately play a critical role in the success or failure of the drone’s ability to bring life-saving products to those who need them”. (Truog,S et al, 2020)
Bibliography
- Drones for Health. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 29, from https://www.villagereach.org/work/drones-for-health
- Horowitz, B. T. (April, 2020 8). Why Medical Drones Are Taking Off in Healthcare. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from HealthTech: https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2020/04/why-medical-drones-are-taking-healthcare
- Truog, S. (2020, August 30). Insights Before Flights: How Community Perceptions Can Make or Break Medical Drone Deliveries. Drones — Open Access Journal, 4(3). doi:10.3390/drones4030051
Disclaimer
This article is compiled from a variety of resources researched and compiled by the contributor. It is in no way presented as an original work. Every effort has been made to correctly attribute quotes and content. Where possible all information has been independently verified. The Medical Education Network bears no responsibility for any inaccuracies which may occur from the use of third-party sources. If you have any queries regarding this article contact us
