Six innovations transforming the future of global health

Six innovations transforming the future of global health

Jenn Gardy, deputy director of malaria surveillance, data, and epidemiology at the Gates Foundation, appears in front of the Future of Health exhibit at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
Patrick McMahon, senior manager at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center, shows attendees a dual AI bed net at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
A Zipline drone at the Gates Foundation Future of Health exhibit.

3. Life-saving medical supplies delivered by drone 

In Ghana, Rwanda, and other countries in Africa, lifesaving medical supplies are now arriving in hard-to-reach communities not by road but by air, thanks to drones. Several companies are providing this key service, with a growing fleet of zero-emission, fixed-wing drones zooming over tough terrain to deliver vaccines, drugs, blood plasma, and other lifesaving medical supplies to remote communities, all while keeping these products cold, well packaged, free of contaminants, and ready to use at the point of delivery. 

One foundation partner, Zipline, made its millionth drone delivery in April 2024 when it flew two bags of IV fluid to a remote health clinic in Ghana. Since Zipline’s drones began flying Ghana in in 2018, routine immunization rates in that region have gone up by an average of 21%. An Australian company called Swoop Aero has been working with local health officials and other partners to fly medical supplies to where they’re needed in Vanuatu, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  

Did you know? with Jenn Gardy

Jenn Gardy viewing the AI ultrasound display
Jenn Gardy tests a low-cost, portable ultrasound scanner.

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