WATCH: On the Ethics of Medical Drone Deliveries

Until recently, the vast majority of studies and reports on the use of cargo drones for public health were almost exclusively focused on the technology. The driving interest was on the range that these drones could travel, how much they could carry, and how they worked. Little to no attention was placed on the human side of these projects. Community perception, community engagement, consent, and stakeholder feedback were rarely if ever, addressed. This explains why we warmly welcomed this new peer-reviewed study led by Vyshnave Jeyabalan and Elysée Nouvet from Western University. The study, entitled, "Context-Specific Challenges, Opportunities, and Ethics of Drones for Healthcare Delivery in the Eyes of Program Managers and Field Staff: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study," ought to be required reading for anyone working with drones in the social good space. Thus, we were very pleased when the lead authors of the study kindly agreed to share their findings and open questions in this webinar, which numerous Flying Labs participated in and contributed to.