A drone delivery network for antiepileptic drugs: a framework and modelling case study in a low-income country.

Autor:	Mateen FJ; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, #627 - 165 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114, USA., Leung KHB; Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering University of Toronto, MC315 - 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada., Vogel AC; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, #627 - 165 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114, USA., Cissé AF; Department of Neurology, Ignace Deen Hospital, 9th Boulevard, Conakry, Republic of Guinea., Chan TCY; Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering University of Toronto, MC315 - 5 King's College Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8, Canada.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene [Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg] 2020 Apr 08; Vol. 114 (4), pp. 308-314.
DOI:	10.1093/trstmh/trz131
Abstrakt:	Background: In urbanized, low-income cities with high rates of congestion, delivery of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) by unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to people with epilepsy for both emergency and non-urgent distribution may prove beneficial. Methods: Conakry is the capital of the Republic of Guinea, a low-income sub-Saharan African country (2018 per capita gross national income US$830). We computed the number of drones and delivery times to distribute AEDs from a main urban hospital to 27 pre-identified gas stations, mosques and pharmacies and compared these to the delivery times of a personal vehicle. Results: We predict that a single drone could serve all pre-identified delivery locations in Conakry within a 20.4-h period. In an emergency case of status epilepticus, 8, 20 and 24 of the 27 pre-identified destinations can be reached from the hub within 5, 10 and 15 min, respectively. Compared with the use of a personal vehicle, the response time for a drone is reduced by an average of 78.8% across all times of the day. Conclusions: Drones can dramatically reduce the response time for both emergency and routine delivery of lifesaving medicines. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such a drone delivery model with relevance to epilepsy. However, the commissioning of a trial of drones for drug delivery in related diseases and geographies is justified. (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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