Africa has the highest disease burden of any continent in the world. With probably the most diverse environments, infrastructure in remote areas can be severely limited. This is where drones can make a huge difference, travelling vast distances and delivering to some of the most inaccessible locations in the world. Delivery times can be reduced from days to minutes.
However, it is not always simple. There are additional challenges and regulatory complexities that must be fully understood before integrating drones into your clinical supply chain.
The Use of Drones in Clinical Supplies
Access to quality and affordable health care remains a major problem in many African countries. Problems such as high unemployment and inadequate health care infrastructure persist.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, drones are starting to play an important role in improving access to primary health care and advancing research through active participation in clinical trials. Larger drones can carry up to 180 kg of cargo over 400 km.
In Ghana, for example, the rapid delivery of medical supplies and vaccines to hard-to-reach locations proved crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic. Pfizer and BioNTech needed ultra-cold storage to deliver mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, using drones equipped with specialized cargo boxes.
In Rwanda, a single drone network delivers blood and essential medical supplies to over 350 health facilities, managing 75% of blood distribution outside the capital, Kigali. This service not only improves accessibility, but also saves lives by ensuring that essential supplies are available when needed.
Use of Drones in African Clinical Supplies
In this exclusive podcast – Overcoming time-critical clinical supply chain challenges in sub-Saharan Africa – experts from across the industry discuss how drones can help deliver medical supplies and biospecimens to some of Africa’s most remote areas, sharing experiences and solutions to the region’s unique and diverse challenges.
Drone delivery systems are beginning to fill significant gaps in traditional logistics, particularly in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa where conventional transportation methods are inadequate. The continued development of drone technology and its applications in healthcare logistics have the potential to transform traditional distribution models. However, challenges include airspace access and approval, collision risk assessment, data privacy, and security regulations.
Click below to play the podcast:
Using drones to support clinical trials
This podcast also explains the critical role biospecimens play in medical research and improving patient outcomes, providing insights into disease progression, markers of efficacy, and the effects of treatments. They are essential for the timely delivery of vaccines, medicines, and investigational products to research centers and clinics, particularly in hard-to-reach areas such as Africa.
However, exporting biospecimens often faces challenges due to the lack of dry ice for transportation, which can lead to potential failures. We hear how Oximio, a leading provider of clinical supply chain solutions, is now working with partners to use drones to de-risk biospecimen logistics infrastructure by deploying dry ice-filled vessels that can maintain -70°C for up to 21 days without the need for dry ice replenishment.
A key partner in the use of drones in the clinical supply chain and contributor to this podcast is Village reacha non-profit organization that partners with governments and the private sector to improve access to primary health care in Africa. VillageReach uses drones to enhance logistics and make valuable and important clinical trials more accessible. In addition to reducing delivery times, data shows that drone adoption has increased in regions previously considered inaccessible.
The main speakers in this podcast are:
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Rob van den Bergh. Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa for Oximio
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Olivier Defahh. Drones for Health Program Leader for VillageReach
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Michael Merritt. Head of Commercial Drone Services at Sky Ports
To read the full presentation of this podcast, please download the document below.
“Podcast: How Drones Are Transforming Africa’s Clinical Supply Chain” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical technologya brand of GlobalData.
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