ICF: Unmanned aerial vehicles ('drones') for sustainable vaccine research and improving equity in vaccine delivery: a feasibility study in The Gambia

在撒哈拉以南非洲的低收入国家，开展具有国际竞争力的健康研究，并为所有人提供高质量的医疗保健，需要大量的机动车辆旅行。其中许多行程距离很短（<30公里），用于运输小型、轻型有效载荷，包括疫苗、药品、输血和研究样品（例如，来自临床试验中的成人和儿童的血液样品）。然而，由于道路条件差，以及对灵活、坚固、寿命长的车辆的需求，目前大多数旅行都是在柴油或汽油驱动的四轮驱动中进行的。像这样的车辆是效率最低、对环境和健康危害最大的交通工具。非洲车辆的温室气体排放量每年增加7%。气候变化已经影响到非洲的粮食安全，并改变了疟疾和黄热病等由蚊子叮咬引起的疾病的传播。因此，减少这些排放的领导作用非常重要。车辆，特别是旧车，也会产生空气污染物，增加患心脏病和肺病、糖尿病和中风的风险。这些疾病已经在非洲迅速增加，因此需要新的方法来扭转这一趋势。环境噪音（或噪音污染）主要来自撒哈拉以南非洲城市环境中的交通，可能导致睡眠和情绪障碍，难以集中注意力和心脏病。减缓这些疾病的增长也很重要。最后，道路交通死亡人数在世界大部分地区都在下降，但在非洲许多地区却在增加。目前，它们是西非15至29岁人群最常见的死亡原因，其中近一半是行人。通过寻找其他运输方式来减少车辆数量也是解决这一重要负担的一种方法。本研究将确定使用无人驾驶飞行器（或“无人机”）替代公路车辆运输研究样本和医疗用品的可行性，成本和环境影响。我们将专门测试无人机，首先将疫苗研究参与者的血液样本运送到中心实验室进行处理，其次将B型肝炎疫苗运送到农村卫生站，让新生儿在出生后的第一天就按照建议接种疫苗。此外，还将探讨在稳定的温度下保持血液样本和疫苗的能力、功耗、成本和安全性，以及季节性因素（如风暴和来自撒哈拉的哈马坦风）对飞行的影响。这些技术数据将通过访谈和小组讨论得到补充，旨在更广泛地了解冈比亚和其他类似环境中可能如何看待无人机飞行。该研究将与冈比亚卫生部和Arda合作进行，Arda是一家旨在开发用于非洲所述目的的无人机技术的公司。通过这些伙伴关系，预计将最大限度地扩大研究对环境可持续研究和医疗保健的未来影响。

In low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, conducting internationally competitive health research, and providing high quality healthcare to all, requires numerous motor vehicle journeys. Many of these journeys are of short distance (<30 km) and are undertaken to transport small, light-weight payloads including vaccines, medicines, blood transfusions and research samples (e.g., blood samples from adults and children in clinical trials). However, due to poor road conditions and the need for flexible, robust, long-lived vehicles, most journeys are currently undertaken in diesel- or petrol-powered four-wheel-drives. Vehicles like this are some of the least efficient and most environmentally- and health-damaging modes of transport operating.Emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles in Africa are increasing by 7% each year. Climate change is already impacting on food security in Africa as well as changing the spread of diseases like malaria and yellow fever that result from mosquito bites. Leadership to reduce these emissions is therefore important. Vehicles, particularly older vehicles, also produce air pollutants which increase the risk of heart and lung disease, diabetes, and strokes. These are diseases that are already increasing rapidly in Africa so new ways to reverse this trend are needed. Environmental noise (or noise pollution) comes mainly from traffic in urban settings in sub-Saharan Africa and can cause sleep and mood disturbances, difficulties concentrating and heart disease. Slowing down increases in these diseases is important too. Finally, road traffic deaths are going down across much of the world, but are increasing in many parts of Africa. They are currently the most common cause of death in 15 to 29-year-olds in West Africa, with nearly half of these deaths being pedestrians. Reducing vehicle numbers through looking at other modes of transport is also one way which may address this important burden.This study will establish the feasibility, costs, and environmental impacts of using unmanned aerial vehicles (or 'drones') to replace road vehicles for the transport of research samples and healthcare supplies in The Gambia, West Africa. The drones will be solar changed and thus carbon neutral with respect to power.We will specifically test drones first, to transport blood samples from participants in vaccine studies to a central laboratory for processing, and second, to transport hepatitis B vaccines to rural health posts allowing newborn babies to receive the vaccines on the first day of life as recommended.Factors including the length of flights (time and distance), the ability to maintain blood samples and vaccines at stable temperatures, power consumption, costs, and safety as well as the impacts of seasonal factors, such as storms and the harmattan winds from the Saharan, on flights will all be explored. This technical data will be complemented by interviews and group discussions aiming to gain a broader understanding of how drone flights are likely to be perceived in The Gambia and other comparable settings. The study will be conducted in partnership with the Gambian Ministry of Health and Arda, a company aiming to develop drone technology for the purposes described in Africa. Through these partnerships the future impact of the study on environmentally sustainable research and healthcare are expected to be maximized.