Phase 2 of ‘Medicine from the Sky’ soon
Hyderabad: After successful completion of ‘Medicine from the Sky’ experimental project to deliver vaccines and medicines using Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones in Vikarabad, efforts are on to extend the project in two more districts shortly.
This will be taken up as part of phase II exercise of the project. Since, phase I was a pilot project, measures are being taken to launch the project on a regular basis in two more districts and identification of the districts is under progress, an official from Emerging Technologies wing said. “Apart from medicines and vaccines, samples for diagnostic tests and blood platelets will be delivered using BVLOS drones flights in Phase II. Hopefully, it should commence within a month,” the official said.
The parameters for identifying two districts will include geographical terrain, accessibility challenges, and tendency of medical emergency requirements.
Unlike Phase I, the project’s Phase II does not require any formal approvals from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to conduct the operations, the official explained. During execution of phase II, commercial implications and other factors, including support from corporates under their CSR initiatives will be explored.
On phase I, the official said the test runs were completed last week by all eight consortia. Over 350 drone flights were operated during the 45-day pilot project and there were no major incidents or mishaps, the official explained.
The longest distance covered during the trial period was 43 kms and the payload capacity varied from 1.8 kgs to 5 kgs. During the trial tests, consortia operated the drone flights from New Area Hospital, Vikarabad to District Hospital, Parigi and other Primary Health Centres in the district.
Project gathering lot of attention
Telangana Government’s innovative project ‘Medicine from the Sky’, which is Asia’s largest organized trials for drone-based medical deliveries, is drawing national attention.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned about ‘Medicine from the Sky’ during his “Mann ki Baat” programme on October 25. This apart, Arunachal Pradesh government officials have sought details of the project and Telangana government officials made a one-hour presentation on how the project was being executed and other aspects.
The State Government is taking up the innovative initiative in association with Emerging Technologies Wing of the ITE&C Department, in partnership with World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog and HealthNet Global (Apollo Hospitals).
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