Supporting Smart Design of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems

inSupply, JSI’s regional supply chain consulting center in East Africa, in partnership with Llamasoft and the Nichols Group, recently examined the potential for employing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to deliver life-saving and other commodities within a public health system. We looked at the cost-effectiveness of UAVs versus a motorcycle-based system and other well-run forms of land transport, using three sets of data from African countries over 12 months (read our latest Devex opinion piece or the full white paper).

We are currently field-testing a tool to help health officials make informed decisions about the health products to prioritize for delivery by which type of UAV. Building on this work, JSI was recently awarded a contract by UNICEF to design an optimized system that uses UAVs to transport samples and test results for early infant diagnosis of HIV and viral load testing to and from health facilities and laboratories in Malawi.