Current and potential uses of drones in healthcare delivery in sub-Saharan Africa: a rapid scoping review

Drones are changing healthcare delivery, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where traditional logistics face geographical, infrastructural, and resource limitations. This review maps where drones have been used in SSA, how they have been used, the outcomes and challenges, and the potential to expand drone systems to address other healthcare problems. A rapid scoping review methodology was employed, sourcing literature from Google Scholar, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Cairn.info, and grey literature using targeted keywords such as 'drones,' 'medicine delivery,' and 'sub-Saharan Africa' to build a search query. Twenty-nine papers met the inclusion criteria, covering 12 countries, although the evidence base was heavily concentrated in Ghana and included a mix of peer-reviewed articles, technical reports, and media or organisational sources. Drone delivery systems have improved healthcare logistics across SSA by reducing delivery times, addressing rural access issues, improving maternal, neonatal, infectious disease, and emergency outcomes, and optimising supply chains. However, challenges such as payload limitations, dependency on donor funding, regulatory and policy restrictions, and workforce shortages hinder scalability. Drones have great potential for healthcare delivery in SSA, offering rapid, efficient, and cost-effective solutions that are transferable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to potential and emerging applications such as vector surveillance and public health messaging. While their contributions to improving maternal health and emergency response are notable, addressing systemic issues is crucial. Drones show promise for improving healthcare logistics in underserved settings, but their long-term value depends on resolving regulatory, infrastructural, workforce, and financing constraints, and on generating stronger comparative generalisable evidence.