Health on the Move: Backpacks, Bicycles, and Drones in the Service of Primary Care
To overcome obstacles, accessible solutions have been found in healthcare to guarantee services.
In the most remote communities, where dirt roads turn into rivers during the rainy season and public transportation does not reach, health remains a matter of utmost importance. It is in these places that primary care professionals have devised innovative ways to deliver medicines, vaccines, and medical care to those who need them most.
From supply-loaded backpacks and adapted bicycles to state-of-the-art drones, these are the key tools bridging the distance between healthcare and people.
This new and constantly evolving phase is unfolding in rural areas, peripheral neighborhoods, and indigenous territories of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where health systems face multiple logistical barriers.
What seemed unthinkable just a decade ago—a doctor on a bicycle carrying a portable refrigerator or a drone delivering medicines in minutes—is now part of accessible, sustainable, and context-adapted solutions.
Tools That Save Lives
In the most remote terrains, as long as at least one person lives there, access to healthcare remains a right. But this becomes complicated when roads and resources are inadequate to make it possible.
Faced with this challenge, various responses have been implemented, with some standing out over others. For years, medical backpacks have been essential allies for community health workers.
In recent times, their design has evolved to meet specific needs. Some now have refrigerated compartments for transporting heat-sensitive vaccines, while others include rapid diagnostic kits for diseases such as malaria or HIV.
In rural areas of Colombia, for example, backpacks enable community health agents to walk long distances to conduct prenatal checkups, monitor tuberculosis patients, or vaccinate school-aged children.
This model carries a key component: trust. Promoters, often members of the communities they serve, become a bridge between the population and the formal health system—and the backpack is an extension of that closeness.
In other regions, where access is via winding or unpaved paths, the “bicimédicos” system is used. These are healthcare professionals or volunteers who ride adapted bicycles to bring care to distant communities.
In Uganda, an NGO created bicycles equipped with thermal boxes, solar panels, and compartments for medicines. In Brazil, the initiative “Saúde sobre Rodas” enables nurses and health technicians to visit river communities in the Amazon using water bikes.
Beyond being an ecological and economical solution, bicycles can overcome obstacles that other vehicles cannot, such as collapsed bridges, narrow trails, or flooded streets.
In some cases, bicycles are also part of the treatment itself, as community agents use them to promote physical activity and combat non-communicable chronic diseases like diabetes or hypertension.
To this list of tools are added drones, representing a technological leap in primary care by shortening distances in unprecedented ways.
These unmanned devices can transport medicines, biological samples, and vaccines in record time, flying over mountains, rivers, and terrains inaccessible by land. Rwanda was one of the first countries to implement a national system for delivering blood and vaccines using drones.
Each flight saves patients hours or even days of waiting. In Latin America, pilot projects in Peru and Mexico are testing drones to deliver diagnostic tests to indigenous communities, reduce the delivery time of antiretroviral drugs, or distribute long-term contraceptives.
By reducing waiting times and ensuring the cold chain, drones also improve clinical outcomes, especially in obstetric emergencies, epidemic outbreaks, or natural disasters.
Although these experiences hold great potential, they face challenges such as the lack of sustained funding, shortage of trained personnel, difficulties in maintaining equipment, and the absence of regulatory frameworks—particularly concerning drone use. These are just some of the obstacles that must be addressed.
Moreover, the success of these strategies depends on territorial planning that coordinates the efforts of ministries of health, community organizations, and technological partners. It is not simply about delivering a package, but about integrating mobile care into a more robust and equitable health system.
These mobile strategies are more than just shortcuts—they are an ethical proposal. Health on foot, on wheels, or on rotors underscores the principle that the right to care must be fulfilled and guaranteed.