TY - JOUR T1 - Bi-directional drones to strengthen healthcare provision: experiences and lessons from Madagascar, Malawi and Senegal JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001541 VL - 4 IS - 4 SP - e001541 AU - Astrid M Knoblauch AU - Sara de la Rosa AU - Judith Sherman AU - Carla Blauvelt AU - Charles Matemba AU - Luciana Maxim AU - Olivier D Defawe AU - Abdoulaye Gueye AU - Joanie Robertson AU - Jesse McKinney AU - Joe Brew AU - Enrique Paz AU - Peter M Small AU - Marcel Tanner AU - Niaina Rakotosamimanana AU - Simon Grandjean Lapierre Y1 - 2019/07/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/4/4/e001541.abstract N2 - Drones are increasingly being used globally for the support of healthcare programmes. Madagascar, Malawi and Senegal are among a group of early adopters piloting the use of bi-directional transport drones for health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This article presents the experiences as well as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) of these country projects. Methods for addressing regulatory, feasibility, acceptability, and monitoring and evaluation issues are presented to guide future implementations. Main recommendations for governments, implementers, drone providers and funders include (1) developing more reliable technologies, (2) thorough vetting of drone providers’ capabilities during the selection process, (3) using and strengthening local capacity, (4) building in-country markets and businesses to maintain drone operations locally, (5) coordinating efforts among all stakeholders under government leadership, (6) implementing and identifying funding for long-term projects beyond pilots, and (7) evaluating impacts via standardised indicators. Sharing experiences and evidence from ongoing projects is needed to advance the use of drones for healthcare. ER -