The World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, will initiate a drone-delivery project, called ‘Medicine from the Sky‘ in Telangana.
The project will be commenced in collaboration with the government of Telangana and Apollo hospital-backed Health Net Global. The project will have a comprehensive study of drone-based deliveries for blood, vaccines, medical samples and organs.
The news comes after a successful drone experiment was completed in Uttrakhand’s Tehri district when an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was used to deliver a single unit of blood for ₹10 lakh from a remote primary health centre.
The Uttrakhand success story was not the first attempt of the Indian Government to try its hand on drone deliveries. The government has been increasingly exploring ways to use drones.
Importantly, these developments come at a time when the central government is looking to come out with new drone regulations.
Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary, industries, commerce and ITE&C, government of Telangana, said, “We hope that through this pilot with the World Economic Forum, we can inform the Centre on the regulations that can help us positively use drones and unlock the potential of India by harnessing technology.”
Whereas, the organisers believe that project will help facilitate better decision-making in healthcare supply chains, focus on last-mile’ deliveries to augment national healthcare programmes, and address issues that affect the medical distribution system.
“This study will provide an evidence-based approach for implementation of drones in healthcare, enabling emergency-care services to the patients in the shortest time frame possible, thus saving their lives,” Hari Prasad of HealthNet Global Limited said.