Around two kilograms of anti-tuberculosis drugs were delivered to a hospital in the hills of Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal district from AIIMS Rishikesh on Thursday, as part of a trial to test the feasibility of using drones in delivery of medical supplies.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the use of drones cut down the delivery time from two hours to just 30 minutes.
"Revolutionizing Healthcare Delivery Using Drones! Successful drone-based trial conducted at AIIMS Rishikesh for transporting anti-TB drugs from AIIMS Helipad to District Hospital Tehri Garhwal. Approximately 40 km aerial distance was covered within 30 minutes, reaching hilly regions conveniently," he said.
Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones are extensively used in agricultural spraying and surveillance among other things.
Despite several trials of delivering medical supplies being conducted across the country, limited evidence is available on the integration of the technology with the existing healthcare system and the analysis of the cost effectiveness of the drone technology in delivering essential medical supplies, he said.
"The present project is intended to test long-term feasibility and develop a model to integrate the technology into the healthcare system as a supplement to existing logistics methods, and suggest ways for long-term sustainability of drone-based delivery of medical supplies, especially TB medicines," Mandaviya said.
The project will also calculate the cost effectiveness of delivering medicines and the transportation of sputum samples to laboratories via drones in Uttarakhand.
Drone-based delivery can also aid in organ transportation in the future.
Mandaviya said the next such drone-based trial is scheduled to be an exercise between AIIMS Delhi and AIIMS Jhajjar.