Benefits of using unmanned aerial vehicles for last-mile vaccine delivery in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The faster speed, low maintenance cost, and absence of dependency on roads in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have propagated their application as a successful alternative to road delivery. Hence, it is suggested as a solution to overcome the distribution inefficiencies in the vaccine cold chain of Sri Lanka. Because of the last-mile delivery problems and routine distribution of vaccines, UAV delivery is recommended for the network arc between the Regional Medical Supplies Division (RMSD) and its respective Medical Officer of Health (MOH) units. An existing delivery plan was compared against UAV delivery solutions using 5 key performance indices (KPI) to determine the potential advantages of using UAVs in the above-mentioned distribution arc. From the comparison, it was revealed that when UAVs are included, the time consumption and carbon dioxide emission are reduced significantly resulting in a more efficient and environmentally friendly delivery network. However, due to the limited number of flights in the current context, economic benefits can be realized only if the cost of the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) is funded. Instead, if the UAS cost is borne by the government, the high capital cost exceeds the operational savings, leading to a higher cost per vial compared to the status quo. Nonetheless, once the initial setup cost is overcome UAVs can reduce the operational cost vastly, ensuring the longevity of the vaccine program. Moreover, even though the homogenous (i.e., Only UAV) solution yields better savings than the heterogeneous (i.e., Truck and UAV) solution, considering the higher capital resources required to implement the homogeneous solution, later is recommended for the initial execution.