How Are Drones in Malawi Solving Medical Supply Chain Challenges?
Drone services in Malawi efficiently transport blood samples between labs, connecting hospitals and doctors, which speeds up result delivery, enhances sustainability, and reduces costs.
Jedsy is a technology company based in Switzerland with the ultimate aim of designing and developing high-end multipurpose drones. Jedsy is present in Switzerland, Malawi, India and Brazil.
In this discussion, the CEO Herbert Weirather explained:
What challenges are present in the medical supply chain in Africa,
Which stakeholders does the company work with, what’s their business model,
Why there is no such thing as competition in the medical supply drone delivery space, because healthcare needs all the help it can get.
Transcript:
[00:01:50] Herbert, How are drones used for healthcare delivery? More specifically, in Malawi. Let's start with the destination. How did you end up working in Malawi, given that the company is based in Switzerland?
[00:02:14] Herbert: If you have a new aircraft, you want to fly somewhere, and Switzerland was not the perfect place for that. That's why we were looking for a country that has easy regulation, and it turns out Malawi was one of those. That was really great because we also see that we can have a big impact in that country because they really need new solutions like drone delivery for their healthcare system.
[00:02:52] When you say that Malawi was the perfect target, did you do a comparison with other African countries? Why was Malawi different?
[00:03:02] It was a combination. On the one side, we were looking for a partner, and on the other hand, we wanted to find a country where it's easy to start a business. Malawi has built up a flight corridor in a specific area where new concepts and new drones can be tested also for long range and everything. Additionally, we found a great partner in Malawi.
[00:03:46] We haven't explained yet what kind of medical deliveries do you do? Let's start with that. Is it just blood samples, blood supplies, what exactly do you transport with drones? And maybe you can also talk about the quantity of the deliveries that you do.
[00:04:05] Herbert: Yeah, especially here in Switzerland, we mainly transport blood samples. Our specialty is collecting things in the medical area because we directly dock on the window. So basically, a doctor or a hospital doesn't need any intro logistics, so you cut out one big interface in the supply chain which makes it much faster but also significantly more cost-efficient. In industrialized countries like Switzerland, it's mainly collecting blood samples. In Malawi, it's a bit different. We transport everything: medicine, spare parts, anything that the health center would need. We're also working on trying to transport blood bags so people can get a blood transfusion directly at the health center because currently, people actually need to get picked up by an ambulance, which is not really available. And only when they are in the main hospital, they can get a blood transfusion. Just to give you an idea, they have five ambulances for a million people, and almost every month they're running out of fuel. So basically, the ambulances are working like two weeks a month. Other than that, they have to say, "Yeah, I'm sorry. We cannot help you." So that's the situation.
[00:05:52] Can you maybe talk a bit more about the process? So if somebody needs a delivery, let's say a blood sample, what does the whole process look like? How do you coordinate with the healthcare workers? How do the healthcare workers come to where that sample is needed or that blood supply is needed? How is all that coordination managed and perhaps also how much IT is involved in that, all the components that you mentioned immediately get me thinking about all the laboratory EHR or other systems that you might want to have that information.
[00:06:39] Herbert: Yeah, on the one side we have a fixed schedule, so we try to reach a health center every single day at an exact time. So they start to remember, "Okay, this is coming. So I need to either ship something from one point to the other." And basically, it's a WhatsApp group. So whenever a health center needs something, they put it in the WhatsApp group. It gets approved by the district hospital logistic manager, and then they put it into the drone. So not too much IT involved currently. But yeah, for the emergency things, which we're not doing yet but this is coming, it's a similar process, just that we need to be better organized, that we have drones which are ready to go so that the drones are fully charged and stuff like that. So it's like a higher complexity on our side. The process is then still the same.
[00:07:42] Drone delivery of medical supplies has significant potential but also faces potential challenges. For example, it's not that hard to shoot down a drone or disable the drone while it's flying. What are the key risks you face in your work, and how are you mitigating them?
[00:08:10] Herbert: The challenges in Malawi are very different from the challenges here in Switzerland. So for example, in Malawi, one of our big challenges is that they have power outages like four to six hours per day, very commonly. So how should we charge the batteries in that time? And we're trying to also get solar panels connected and stuff like that. Obviously, that's not a problem we have here in Switzerland. In Switzerland, a much bigger challenge is how to get a route certified because there's quite a long rule-making process to certify a single route. So in terms of scalability, that is the big challenge. And then, on the other hand, in Malawi, it's, for example, also importing the stuff to the country. Their customs is super difficult. You need to apply for a waiver. And this needs to go through a ton of paperwork. And so they're very different, right? The problems. And it's not so easy to say, okay, this is our main challenge. But in general, I think the direction is that they absolutely need a solution, not only in Malawi but also in industrialized countries, because logistics and fast logistics are super critical for every single healthcare system in the world. And currently, it's not done in a sustainable way. We were transporting 10-gram blood samples with two-ton cars, which makes no sense. That's why we believe drone technology will definitely play a major part in the medical industry in the very near future.
[00:10:06] And how are the deliveries protected so they don't get damaged on the way?
[00:10:11] Herbert: We never had a problem that somebody wants to shoot down the drone, so we were not in a worst-case scenario or so, and we land in a defined area where the health centers know that it's coming. And people in Malawi are super kind and nice. So that was actually never really a problem. Obviously, where we store our aircraft is currently there is like a security guy during the night, but that's pretty much it, right?
[00:14:36] Are you referring to just drones in general or drones in healthcare? The regulation related to it?
[00:14:44] Herbert: Yeah, the regulation regarding drone delivery, especially for medical purposes.
[00:14:54] So you are using the Jedsy drones also in Europe for medical deliveries?
[00:14:59] Herbert: Yes. We are in Switzerland. We're operational in Switzerland for the biggest laboratory here. There, we currently transport blood samples from one lab to another, and we're expanding to connect hospitals and doctors to increase the speed to get results significantly but also to be more sustainable and cost-efficient.
[00:15:33] And what are some of the feedback or responses that you're getting with the introduction of these solutions? To what extent are you faced with hesitancy around safety and issues that I also raised before? Can you maybe compare that a bit in Europe and in other markets? Just share all the experiences that you have.
[00:15:56] Herbert: In terms of safety, the aviation authority is responsible for ensuring that you operate in a safe manner. Once you have permission to fly, it's a standard quality that you have a safe aircraft to operate. If you have incidents, you then get grounded and lose your permission to fly. The procedure is similar in Malawi, just that there aren't as many regulations. So, whenever you have something new, you can try it out more easily in the test corridor. The major difference in regulation is that they would love to have much more routes because they face many challenges here in Switzerland. At the moment, all the samples are pretty much coming back at five o'clock in the evening, during rush hour. They're stuck in traffic every single day, causing people in the lab to wait to analyze the blood samples. This process costs a lot of money. We make the whole process significantly faster and more cost-efficient by eliminating factors like traffic.
[00:17:34]Can you tell me a little bit more about the business model and how you created it? Because when it comes to new technologies, sometimes they're not cost-effective or there's not an immediate return on investment that would make the ideas appealing to investors, at least not in the short run. So how are you approaching that, especially since you are working in Africa?
[00:18:00] Herbert: Our main business model, which the laboratories know, is similar to the taxi model. Taxi drivers charge a certain way, and we have a very similar business model. When we provide the service, we charge like a taxi driver would. I think that's the simplest way for the customer to understand the service. In other countries like Brazil, it's different because there we sell the aircraft and the software, and then we also provide education and everything. So, we have two different business models.
[00:18:45] When you first entered Malawi, what kind of expectations did you have, and what did you then discover about healthcare provision? What are some of the things that potentially surprised you when you went there?
[00:18:59] Herbert: We started pretty much during Covid. When Covid started, we also started in Malawi. The healthcare system here in Switzerland was significantly more prominent suddenly because of COVID-19, and everybody was trying to understand what was going on with all the measures implemented here in Europe. It was very different in Malawi. Their main issue was still malaria and many other diseases. That was really surprising because, in Europe, the focus was only on Covid. In Malawi, they have much bigger problems that have existed for ages, and they are still not really able to solve them sustainably. Covid was a big thing there, but the other problems never went away. That was a big surprise, seeing how fragile the healthcare system in Malawi is. I visited a hospital where we now operate, and the first thing I saw was three ambulances without wheels. They were just used as spare parts for other cars. You would never see something like that in Switzerland. Those were pretty significant impressions.
[00:21:05] In one of the videos that was made to showcase how you work, you mentioned that healthcare is a very emotional topic in Malawi. Can you talk a bit more about that?
[00:21:27] Herbert: Absolutely. Visiting a healthcare center where they call for an ambulance every day, and almost every day they have to say, "We cannot come because the ambulance is already somewhere else, or we have no fuel," is extremely emotional. If it were my child and the ambulance couldn't come because it didn't have fuel, that would be extremely emotional. So, we have to change that, and that's a big driver for why we want to make a difference there.
[00:22:11] Tjasa: Can you talk a bit more about how you made this all happen? Who did you have to contact first to start working in the country, and how did you build up the team locally?
[00:22:31] Herbert: Initially, it was really difficult to get to know the right people. Somehow, we were lucky and got to know Dan America, who is our partner in Malawi. It's really crazy; wherever you go, he knows everybody. He's our anchor to solve any problems we have. You have to be lucky to find people like that in a country. The country itself wants to move forward. They know they don't have a lot of money, but there are technology solutions that can make a difference and help. That's not the case in many countries. In many places, if there isn't regulation in place, they don't have it. But Malawi makes it work, even without regulation in place.
[00:23:48] And what types of other technologies did you also see, or maybe entrepreneurs or ideas that are there in order to change what's possible? I think you mentioned a few very good things to have in mind, such as the lack of infrastructure, the lack of resources, and the focus on communicable diseases in Africa while non-communicable diseases are predominant in the West. On top of that, there's increasing awareness of all the chronic diseases that we have here, which are also present there but are only slowly being addressed. With such a huge amount of problems, what did you see that inspired you or that you thought was also very useful or interesting?
[00:24:44] Herbert: Interesting question. For example, we are currently trying to find a solution that allows health centers to do blood matching by themselves without requiring significant infrastructure. We're looking for solutions like that to make the next step and do those emergency blood bag deliveries. However, I have to admit that I'm a bit too far away from Switzerland to have a full picture of what's advancing in Malawi's healthcare system in terms of other technologies. I visit Malawi like once every two months, but I don't really have the full picture. So, we're pretty much focused on our solution and getting it to as many health centers as possible.
[00:25:45] How are you approaching scaling and the next steps in terms of what you want to achieve in that market? What is required for you to be able to scale in that market?
[00:26:02] Herbert: Malawi doesn't have much of a budget to finance this, so it's mainly financial budget that we need to expand faster. Currently, 80% of the budget of the healthcare system in Malawi is from donors, making it a super fragile system. If one donor pulls out, there's a huge gap that the government cannot fill with their current budget. One of the biggest challenges is scaling up. The manpower in Malawi is great; many people are willing to work, but there aren't many jobs available. We currently have 16 people, and for one job description, we received 400 applications. So, human resourcing is not a big challenge in Malawi.
[00:27:21]How did you choose the one person you were looking for among 400 applicants?
[00:27:30] Herbert: We conducted a workshop where a few members of our team in Switzerland were in Malawi. We preselected quite a few applicants, and after the workshop, a few of those got the job. They then helped us a lot in the selection process for further hires afterward. We also have one HR person in Malawi who handles all the sourcing and screening of applicants.
[00:28:07] Considering the financing aspect, your business model has to focus not so much on looking for the customer but on looking for a third-party investor or payer. Is finding donors your main focus to enable what you do, or does the government focus on that?
[00:28:41] Herbert: Not only are there several donors in Malawi financing in that direction, but our main focus is also Europe, where we can earn good money for the services we provide. This allows us to finance our service in Malawi, which is part of our development process. In Malawi, we can test new things and conduct all the reliability tests. Once we know something works, we can then also use it in Europe. At the moment, providing service in Malawi is how we finance it, more or less.
[00:29:30] I'm considering the potential sustainable and long-term business models that can be deployed in Africa. Do you have any additional comments or ideas in terms of what you saw and how much contact you have with other entrepreneurs working in this market?
[00:29:53] Herbert: I think the government itself has to allocate a clear budget for medical logistics in their country. With the same budget they are currently spending on ambulances, you could probably have ten times more deliveries with drones. It's a much more efficient way, but at some point, the government has to pay for the service like any normal country would. This is a political process, and they did change it. It's already in the budget plan for the next five years, as decided at the beginning of the year. However, it takes time until processes like that are fully implemented.
[00:30:51] What are you most optimistic about in terms of the future years with your presence in the market? Do you have any new or additional ideas in terms of how this technology could be applied, or are you thinking about other countries inside Africa as well? What are some of the things on your roadmap or in your mindset?
[00:31:20] Herbert: I'm very optimistic about drone technology worldwide, especially for Africa, where it will have the biggest impact because healthcare systems there are super fragile. With drone technology, in one leap, you can have better logistics than even a country like Germany. Currently, 2 billion people don't have access to fast medication, and I think that will change significantly with contributions not only from us but also from others. In general, I believe a healthcare system can be significantly more cost-efficient if it has a fast, sustainable, and affordable delivery service behind it. Every country in the world depends on having a good supply chain. I'm absolutely convinced that every healthcare system in the world will use drone technology very soon.
[00:32:40] I know that you are not the only provider of drone technology. There's Zipline, which is present in more than just Rwanda. How would you say you differentiate from others? Are you in contact with other providers? Given the huge need, I wouldn't really say you are in competition. I would imagine that you want to share knowledge as much as possible.
[00:33:09] Herbert: Exactly. At the moment, I think it's really about striving together because countries like Malawi would probably need five Ziplines and ten more providers, in general, to really cover the whole country. Our specialty is probably for industrialized countries because we can directly dock at the window, which nobody else is doing at the moment. Our docking station is also an automatic charging station, which makes the whole delivery process very efficient. You don't need any humans on-site for takeoff or landing. A healthcare worker can load and unload it. In that sense, we're probably one of the most efficient solutions on the market, especially in industrialized countries. But at the moment, it's really about striving together to get things flying.