Current and potential uses of drones in healthcare delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: a rapid scoping review
Nhyira Yaw Adjei-Banuah, Abdou Moussa Ismaguel, Kezia Naa Amerley Akosua Amarteyfio, Eugene Paa Kofi Bondzie, Jean Claude Romaric Pingdwindé Ouedraogo, Irene Akua Agyepong, Aissa Diarra, Tolib Mirzoev, Angela Owusu-Ansah, Martin McKee · 2026
Read Current and potential uses of drones in healthcare delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: a rapid scoping review by Nhyira Yaw Adjei-Banuah, Abdou Moussa Ismaguel, Kezia Naa Amerley Akosua Amarteyfio, Eugene Paa Kofi Bondzie, Jean Claude Romaric Pingdwindé Ouedraogo, Irene Akua Agyepong, Aissa Diarra, Tolib Mirzoev, Angela Owusu-Ansah, Martin McKee (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13537061.txt.
Description
Nhyira Adjei-Banuah and co-authors scope in a 2026 rapid review drone use in health care across sub-Saharan Africa. Terrain, weak roads, and thin resources slow classic medical logistics in the region. Drones promise to leap those barriers for blood, drugs, and samples.
Six sources, from databases to grey reports, fed the rapid scoping search. Twenty nine papers across 12 countries passed, with Ghana dominating the evidence base. Gains span faster delivery, rural reach, and better maternal and emergency outcomes. Supply chains also ran leaner where drones took over routine hops. Caps on payload, donor dependence, rules, and staff gaps still block scaling.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Nhyira Yaw Adjei-Banuah, Abdou Moussa Ismaguel, Kezia Naa Amerley Akosua Amarteyfio, Eugene Paa Kofi Bondzie, Jean Claude Romaric Pingdwindé Ouedraogo, Irene Akua Agyepong, Aissa Diarra, Tolib Mirzoev, Angela Owusu-Ansah, Martin McKee |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 125 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |