The Use of Drones to Deliver Rift Valley Fever Vaccines in Rwanda: Perceptions and Recommendations

Abstract

Given the recent emergence of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in Rwanda and its profound impact on livelihoods and health, improving RVF prevention and control strategies is crucial. Vaccinating livestock is one of the most sustainable strategies to mitigate the impact of RVF on health and livelihoods. However, vaccine supply chain constraints severely limit the effectiveness of vaccination programs. In the human health sector, unmanned aerial vehicles, i.e., drones, are increasingly used to improve supply chains and last-mile vaccine delivery. We investigated perceptions of whether delivering RVF vaccines by drone in Rwanda might help to overcome logistical constraints in the vaccine supply chain. We conducted semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the animal health sector and Zipline employees in Nyagatare District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. We used content analysis to identify key themes. We found that stakeholders in the animal health sector and Zipline employees believe that drones could improve RVF vaccination in Nyagatare. The primary benefits study participants identified included decreased transportation time, improved cold chain maintenance, and cost savings.

Use of drone technology in animal health and management

“…The study by Griffith et al [42] investigated the potential for drones to deliver RVF vaccines in Rwanda, in a context where livestock vaccination to combat Rift Valley Fever (RVF) has become ineffective due to constraints in the vaccine supply chain. The research assessed the potential advantages of drones in the delivery of RVF vaccines, concluding that the use of drones could improve RVF vaccination.…”

Low-cost collision avoidance in microverse for unmanned aerial vehicle delivery networks

“…Similar to traditional delivery networks, UAV delivery tasks are assigned to local warehouses to ship items to certain targets. As shown in Figure 3, a screenshot of a delivery network in Rwanda established by Zipline, 34 where the delivery routine is predetermined according to the destination. In such case, the low-cost collision avoidance strategy for UAV A and Obstacle Y can be straightforward: If Y is another UAV, the local server would ask the higher UAV to increase the elevation while the lower UAV to decrease until the altitude deviation is larger than D saf e .…”

Would the Convergence of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science Be a Springboard for Transhumanism and Posthumanism?

“…Developing countries like Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have already embraced NBIC technologies by using drones to deliver on time blood products, vaccines and emergency medical equipment (Amukele, 2022;Griffith et al, 2023;McCall, 2019;Nisingizwe et al, 2022); by developing electronic algorithms for clinical decision support and digital platforms for ambulatory pediatric patients (Tan et al, 2023) and by instituting online training for the development of health professionals (Byungura et al, 2022;Bälter et al, 2022). Digital technologies have already demonstrated their effectiveness in responding to the internal challenges of large African cities, by improving the quality of public services through the digitization of "cadastres" (land registries), the real-time management of public transport; by increasing the security of sites and people through video surveillance; by promoting the provision of new services to users within the framework of e-governance, which saves time and reduces the burden on public services (Ndaguba et al, 2023;Ogbodo et al, 2022).…”