Unbundling the significance of cognitive robots and drones deployed to tackle COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid review to unpack emerging opportunities to improve healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The emergence of COVID-19 brought unprecedented opportunities to deploy emerging digital technologies such as robotics and drones to provide contactless services. Robots and drones transformed initial approaches to tackle COVID-19 and have proven to be effective in curbing the risk of COVID-19 in developed countries. Despite the significant impact of robots and drones in reducing the burden of frontline healthcare professionals, there is still limited literature on their utilization to fight the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this rapid review provides significant capabilities of robots and drones while introspecting at the challenges and barriers that may hinder their implementation in developing countries. The study revealed that robots and drones have been used for disinfection, delivery of medical supplies, surveillance, consultation and screening and diagnosis. The study revealed that adopting robots and drones face challenges such as infrastructural, financial, technological barriers, security and privacy issues, lack of policies and frameworks regulating the use of robots and drones in healthcare. We, therefore, propose a collaborative approach to mobilise resources and invest in infrastructure to bridge the digital divide , craft policies and frameworks for effectively integrating robots and drones in healthcare. There is a need to include robotics in the medical education and training of health workers and develop indigenous knowledge and encourage international collaboration. Partnership with civil aviation authorities to license and monitor drones to improve monitoring and security of drone activities could also be helpful. Robots and drones should guarantee superior safety features since it either directly interacts with human or works in a densely populated environment. However, future work should focus on the long term consequences of robots and drones on human behavior and interaction as well as in healthcare.