Flying medicines over mountains in the Nepali health system
THE QUESTION
Can drones be effectively embedded into Nepal’s health system to deliver life-saving medication and vaccines to rural areas?
LOCATION: Nepal
SECTOR: Health
TECH: UAVs
TIMELINE: December 2021 - July 2023
PIONEERS: Deepak Karki, Sarah Pannell
PARTNER: Nepal Flying Labs, & GoN Ministry of Health and Population
The Challenge
Though Nepal is small, it is a mountainous, landlocked country with a long monsoon season and a limited road network. Last mile delivery of medicines and supplies is the most expensive and challenging part of Nepal’s health delivery system. Regular medical supply bottlenecks and poor road conditions result in significant delays in getting essential medicines to rural areas. There is currently a real risk that the progress Nepal’s health system has made in reducing maternal and newborn mortality will be reversed due to stock-outs of essential medicines.
The Idea
This pilot will explore the feasibility of embedding drones within the Nepali health system to deliver essential maternal and child health medicines to rural areas in Nepal. This pilot will focus on local ownership and bring together communities, health workers, technology partners, the government and funders to co-design and scale this pilot. This pilot aims to overcome the persistent challenges of last-mile delivery in Nepal and give the most marginalised communities access to emergency and life-saving drugs and vaccines.
Read more about this pilot’s work:
Read about the pilot’s first sprint and their data conundrum — “The data conundrum for a drone innovation”
Learn about the pilot’s stakeholder consultations — “An account of our Sprint”
Explore the pilot’s key takeaways after its third and final sprint — “Communication, Co-ordination and Coherence across stakeholders is key for action”