Drones in healthcare logistics: Insights from healthcare professionals’ perspective on Zipline delivery services in Ghana

The use of drones for healthcare delivery has emerged as a promising innovation for improving access to essential medical supplies, particularly in hard-to-reach areas and during emergencies. This study explores healthcare professionals' perspectives on Zipline's drone services in enhancing healthcare delivery in Ghana, focusing on their awareness, perceived benefits, and challenges. Data was collected through a cross-sectional survey of 696 healthcare professionals across Zipline Ghana's six distribution centers and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests of association, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The results indicate relatively high awareness (62%) of drone services, although facility-level usage was uneven. The findings further reveal that, while drones provide valuable logistical support, they are complementary tools rather than substitutes for broader systemic reforms. Major challenges identified included high operational costs, technical limitations, and concerns about their long-term sustainability. As one of the first large-scale empirical assessments of healthcare professionals' perceptions of drone-enabled healthcare logistics in Sub-Saharan Africa, these findings offer new evidence and policy-relevant insights for Ghana's healthcare system and contribute to broader global discussions on the integration of drones into healthcare delivery.