This document proposes using drones to distribute vaccines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It summarizes the problem of low vaccination rates, outlines a solution using drones to transport vaccines, and provides a timeline, organizational overview, and details on logistics planning. Key aspects include establishing distribution centers, partnering with local organizations for outreach, and justifying costs through potential cost sharing between organizations and government entities. Supplementary materials provide additional budget details, coverage maps, and technical specifications to support the drone distribution proposal.
2. Synthesis of the Problem
PROBLEM TREE VISUAL
2
https://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/data/cod.pdf
3. Overview of the Solution
Socio-Cultural Technical/Logistic
LOGIC MODEL VISUAL
3
4. Timeline (will make better visual, just an
outline) Marketing Training Distribution 1 Distribution 2
Month 1 Primary
Marketing
CampaginMonth 2 Primary Training
Period
Set Up
Month 3
Ongoing
Marketing
Phase 1
Month 4
Ongoing Training
Phase 2
Month 5 Phase 3
Month 6
Full Operations
Set Up
Month 7 Phase 1
Month 8 Phase 2
Month 9 Phase 3
Month 10
Full OperationsMonth 11
Month 12
4
6. Socio-Culutral Detailed begins
Notes from logistics team
- Have a stakholder slide so that all the
partenrs are established by the time we get
to cost sharing with the other players
- Govt (MOH AND MOF), NGO’s, and
Provicncial Health leaders are key to us; im
sure you have others
6
8. Social Mobilization
● Goal: “Days of Tranquility” for the sake of immunizations and health outreach
● Strategy : Relentlessly reach out to all stakeholders; appeal to humanitarian need to
immunize the innocent
○ UNICEF, Church, government, factional leaders
● Historical Examples
○ UNICEF/Jim Grant
○ 11 million vaccinated for Polio from 1999 to 2000 in the DRC
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(Adamson, 1997;WHO, 2001)
10. Logistics Problem Solution Presentation
Visual of MMR Vaccine Rate
Visual of drones
Drone Distribution of MMR and Ebola Vaccine integrated into the
preexisting Mashako Plan
Piolot Program
Cost share with
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12. Contract Bidding
Operational Requirements
● 75 km+ operating radius
● Deliver 150 kg per day at full operations
○ Minimum 1.5 kg per flight
○ Minimum 25 flights per day
● Drop Delivery Preferred
○ Autonomous landing if drops unavailable
● Cold Storage Compatible
Contract Requirements
● Prioritize local contractor and engineers
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13. Potential Drone Partners
13
Swoop Aero
Pro: Low cost, already
in DRC
Con: Small scale
company, drones
need to land
Zipline
Pro: Well
established &
funded, operating
at scale in Africa,
fly over drones
Con: Expensive
Pro: Heavy load, largest operating
radius, corporate connections
Con: Purchase not service model, less
proven
(Zipline, 2020)
(Swoop Aero, 2020)
(Wingcopter, 2020)
14. Map of HotSpot +
Distribution Centers
Map of other flghts for justifying cost sharing
14
(Cunneen, 2020; Google, 2020; WHO, 2020; Zipline, 2019)
17. Logistics Other
● Drone Aviation Laws
○ None, chance to establish
● Military vs Humanitarian
○ Need to establishing our drones as non
military
● ANYTHING Else
Aviation
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20. References
Adamson, P. (1997). The Mad American [UNICEF lecture].London: UNICEF. Retrieved from
https://www.unicef.org/french/publications/files/Jim-Grant-LR.pdf
City Population.(2015) Congo Dem. Rep. Retrieved from http://www.citypopulation.de/CongoDemRep-Cities.html
GAVI. (2018). Joint AppraisalReport DRC [Internal GAVI Memo]. Author. Retrieved from
https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/document/joint-appraisal-drc-2018pdf.pdf
Global System for Mobile Communications Association [GSMA].(2020). Cellular Coverage Map. London: Author
Retrieved from https://www.gsma.com/coverage/#550
Google. (n.d.). Map of Democratic Republic of Congo. Retrieved from
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Democratic+Republic+of+the+Congo/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x1979facf9a754
6bd:0x4c63e5eac93f141?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilqPnB3LjnAhWCAZ0JHbbtAeUQ8gEwDHoECAsQAQ
Logistic Capacity Assessment [LGA] (2018). “Airportsand Aerodromes in use by the HumanitarianCommunity.
Sydney Australia: Atlassian.Funded by the World Food Program.Retrieved from
https://dlca.logcluster.org/display/public/DLCA/2.2+Democratic+Republic+of+Congo+Aviation
Masaku, JP. (2019). Six months on, Ebola outbreak in eastern DemocraticRepublic of the Congo now second largest
in history. New York: UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/six-months-ebola-outbreak-
eastern-democratic-republic-congo-now-second-largest
Swoop Aero. (2020) About Us. Australia: Author. Retrieved from https://swoop.aero/about-us/
Village Reach. (2019). Request for Proposal(RFP): Drone technology for vaccine transport demonstration flights in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Seattle,WA: Author. Retrrived from https://blog.werobotics.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/03/DRC-UAV-Request-for-Proposals-FINAL.pdf
World Bank. (2019). World Bank Mobilizes US$300 Million to Finance the Ebola
Response in Democratic Republic of Congo. Press Release. Retrieved from
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/07/24/world-bank-
mobilizes-us300-million-to-finance-the-ebola-response-in-democratic-republic-of-
congo
Wingcopter. (2020). Technology. Germany: Author Retrieved from
https://wingcopter.com/technology/
World Health Organization [WHO]. (2001). Health as a Bridge for Peace. Geneva:
Author. Retrived from https://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/hbp/cease_fires/en/
World Health Organization [WHO]. (January, 2020). Ebola Virus Disease, DRC,
External Situation Report 77. Geneva: Author. Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/publications-detail/ebola-virus-disease-democratic-republic-of-
congo-external-situation-report-77-2019
Zipline. (2019). Service Agreement between Ghana Ministry of Health and Fly Zipline
Ghana Limited. Retrieved from
http://myjoyonline.com/docs/322zipline%20agreement-full-pdf.pdf
Zipline. (2020)Zipline - Global Public Health. Retrieved from https://flyzipline.com
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25. Supplementary Materials - Coverage Maps
Potential Coverage Area
Ituri: 25,351mi²
North Kivu: 22,967 mi²
For comparison
Rwanda Area: 10,169 mi²
Near 100% coverage
Using 2 distribution
centers
Ghana Area: 92,099 mi²
Approx 31,000 mi² covered by Zipline
Using 4 distribution centers
(Zipline, 2019)
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(Zipline, 2020)
26. Supplementary Materials - Budget
Justifications Pt 1
● Median Nurse Income in DRC
○ USD 85.05
● Mean Nurse Income in DRC
○ USD 165.26
(Maini et al, 2017)
● Budget for major vaccine cold storage depot in Kinshasa -
aprox $50,000
○ Context, largest in Africa
○ We approximate that a smaller relay depot in Goma
will cost $25,000
○ (Gavi, 2018)
● Government cost sharing via World Bank
Payments
○ $400 million paid to DRC between WBA
Financing and Pandemic Emergency
Financing (World Bank, 2019)
○ Given the drones usefulness in achieving
the Mashako Plan, we budgeted 1/4 to 1/3
cost sharing of the distribution center
operating cost, a small share of fund
available from the World Bank
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29. Supplementary Materials – Rational for
lower service cost due to potential
future
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Provence Population Area Parameters
Ituri 3,650,000 25,000 $50,000.00 per month at full operation
Kasai 2,801,000 36,000
Haut-
Katanga 4,617,000 51,000 Potential Contract Size
Mongala 1,740,000 22,000 One distribution center per province
Kwilu 5,490,000 30,000 $4,800,000 per year
Tanganyika 3,062,000 52,000
Kinshasa 11,575,000 3,800
Tshuapa 1,600,000 51,000 Two distribution center per province
Haut-Lomami 2,957,000 41,000 $9,600,000 per year
37,492,000 311,800
Area Data (Google, n.d.) Population Data (City Population, 2015)
Contract Data (Zipline, 2019)
