{"id":117726,"date":"2021-07-12T08:34:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T03:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=117726"},"modified":"2021-07-12T08:34:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T03:04:32","slug":"will-drones-change-the-way-we-deliver-medicines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/will-drones-change-the-way-we-deliver-medicines\/","title":{"rendered":"Will drones change the way we deliver medicines?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: Livemint<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Relevance<\/strong>: Using drones to solve logistical challenges related to medicine delivery.<\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>: Vaccinating huge population of India is indeed a big challenge. Leveraging drone tech for medicine delivery will certainly help. Progress of the research and challenges involved.<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Recently, images of healthcare workers carrying covid-19 vaccines to remote villages in hilly Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir went viral on social media. In some cases, they had to trek for hours through arduous terrain.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to hope that such treks may soon no longer be required, if experiments to deliver vaccines, and other life-saving medical payloads, with drones are successful.<\/p>\n

Present situation<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Presently in India, multiple private startups are now working with the government to test the feasibility of using drones to deliver medical payloads over longer distances.<\/p>\n

At present, it is said, they may not prove to be cost-effective\u2014though this is still being worked on\u2014but they certainly would be time-efficient.<\/p>\n

Usage in medicinal logistics<\/p>\n

Drone technology in India is being leveraged in two ways for medicinal logistics:<\/p>\n

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  1. One is for direct delivery<\/strong> wherein the medicines or blood samples are delivered directly to an individual or a hospital. In this case, the entire distance is covered by the drone.<\/li>\n
  2. Other method is using drone only for the last-mile delivery<\/strong>. In this case, drones are used as a bridge between medical warehouses and government primary health centres, or PHCs. This case entails usage of a combination of a four-wheeler vehicle and a drone. The vehicle carries the drones and payloads (10-15kg), covering large parts of the distance to a location. The drone is used for last-mile delivery.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    BEAM Committee<\/strong><\/h5>\n

    Two years ago, Union govt. set up the BEAM (BVLOS Experiment Assessment and Monitoring) committee. The government had constituted the BEAM committee’ to invite Expression of Interest (EOI) to undertake BVLOS experimental flights of drones.<\/p>\n