UAVs and Their Role in the Health Supply Chain: A Case Study from Malawi

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been captivating audiences for over a decade now; from their military, mapping, photography, and even more recently cargo carrying abilities – UAVs continue to innovate in ways to remove human error from logistics and provide services never previously tenable. The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM) recently began delivering vital life-saving health services to remote locations in Africa via the use of UAVs. Through adaptation, these UAVs were embedded into the preexisting supply chain in Malawi to greatly improve health service delivery in several remote villages. The lessons learned from this activity have a larger impact on the use of UAVs and the potential benefits to society, especially related to health outcomes. With this activity, we hope to continue to innovate on UAV health service delivery and seek new avenues for which to improve the lives of people across the globe.