Unmanned aerial vehicle adaptation to facilitate healthcare supply chains in low-income countries

Abstract

Low-income countries are persistently suffering from last-mile logistics issues in healthcare supply chains. Therefore, it is high time to explore technological applications to overcome such inadequacies. The faster speed, low maintenance cost, and absence of road dependency in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have popularized them as an alternative to road delivery. Hence, it is suggested as a solution to overcome the persisting distribution inefficiencies in healthcare logistics of low-income countries. According to the case study analysis conducted on the Sri Lankan vaccine cold chain, incorporating UAVs increases truck-space utilization and reduces the time consumed, cost incurred, and carbon dioxide emission in a delivery round. Moreover, the most suitable way to cover the initial setup cost of an unmanned aerial system (UAS) is by receiving aid from international donors. The capital cost also can be covered by government investments or via service outsourcing only if the number of flights per year is increased. Moreover, a homogenous (i.e., only UAV) solution was revealed to be more beneficial than a heterogeneous (i.e., truck and UAV) solution. However, due to the lack of technology literacy and willingness to change in low-income countries, it is recommended to initially execute a heterogeneous solution and expand to a homogeneous plan in the future years. However, it was evident that for a mixed-fleet solution to be advantageous, drone characteristics play a vital role. Hence, a UAV with specifications ideal for the use case must be utilized to garner the maximum benefits. Nevertheless, it was apparent that with the right implementation plan, UAVs possess the potential to overcome the shortcomings in the healthcare logistics of low-income countries.