What’s possible when you combine AI and drones in healthcare

The combination of AI and drones in African healthcare can significantly improve access to essential services in remote areas. Drones are capable of delivering medications, vaccines, and blood products, while AI enhances operational efficiency in areas such as supply chain management and disease surveillance.

Drones can reach remote communities with critical supplies, while artificial intelligence optimises delivery routes, predicts demand, and improves resource allocation. Together, they create more efficient supply chains and enhance disease surveillance by tracking outbreaks, monitoring vectors, and identifying high-risk areas for targeted action.

Investors in this round include Nissay Capital’s Sustainability Challenge Fund, SMBC Venture Capital, DRONE FUND, Central Japan Seed Fund, and Rheos Capital Works. These funds will support the expansion of SORA’s drone and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which are used for malaria control and disease prediction in six African countries.

SORA’s flagship initiative, SORA Malaria Control, integrates drones and AI to identify mosquito breeding sites. This enables targeted Larval Source Management, reducing insecticide use by approximately 70 per cent and cutting labour costs by roughly 50 per cent. Field operations are active in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Kenya.

The company collaborates with local governments and institutions to implement drone-based aerial spraying and predictive disease models. The goal is to strengthen local public health responses and enhance infrastructure for infectious disease control through technological intervention.

With the new funding, SORA will enhance its AI algorithms for early disease forecasting, improve drone systems, expand operations in existing and new African countries, and invest in local training and infrastructure for long-term deployment. Recruitment will also focus on growing the technical and strategic teams.

Drones fitted with AI can transform emergency health responses by providing rapid, high-resolution data to map damage, track infrastructure loss, and guide aid delivery. In Mozambique, this technology has reduced data analysis time from weeks to hours, providing responders with a fast and accurate picture of needs. AI-powered drones enable quicker decision-making, improving outcomes and saving lives during health emergencies.

Beyond imaging, drones equipped with sensors and AI can monitor difficult-to-see indicators, such as standing water that may spread disease. They also support post-crisis recovery by predicting housing and health service needs. With training, local responders gain tools for better preparedness and rapid mobilisation.

Malaria's range in sub-Saharan Africa has expanded due to rising temperatures, according to research by Georgetown University in 2024. Warming accelerates the reproduction of mosquitoes and parasites; however, factors such as migration, land use and food availability also influence the spread of the disease.

African nations now confront a new challenge: the Anopheles stephensi mosquito. Unlike traditional malaria vectors that breed in rural areas, this species thrives in urban environments, particularly in water storage sites. It poses a significant risk to city dwellers, who often have lower immunity and less awareness of the disease.

Anopheles stephensi was first identified in Djibouti in 2012, leading to a resurgence of malaria. Since then, it has spread to Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Nigeria. A British study conducted in 2020 warned that this species could place an additional 126 million Africans at risk. Its ability to adapt to urban settings makes malaria increasingly difficult to control across the continent.