SHILLONG, Dec 2: The state government will soon begin using drones to deliver medicines to the far-flung government health centres.
The state has a number of health centres in the remote areas but the delivery of medicines there by road is a huge challenge.
Last year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced the liberalised Drone Rules 2021, ushering in a new way to look at transportation.
The Meghalaya government decided to capitalise on the initiative for the public health logistics sector since the state is characterised by a challenging road network infrastructure and difficult terrain.
Later, a pilot test on the usage of drones was successfully conducted. The flights from the Civil Hospital to two Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in West Khasi Hills, which were considered difficult, was completed.
The state government has set up a drone station, believed to be the first-of-its-kind for such purposes in the country, at the Jengjal Sub-divisional Hospital in West Garo Hills to serve as a new and efficient means of transport for all the rural health facilities falling within a radius of 50 km.
The drone station, to be inaugurated on Monday, will run routine and emergency deliveries of medical commodities including vaccines, medicines, diagnostic samples, blood units and other supplies to and from the remote health facilities for an initial period of one year.
The service will be extended to 25 health facilities in remote areas by the drone station. Of these, five PHCs have been identified for the first phase and the delivery service will start immediately after the launch. The remaining 20 facilities will be finalised after the ongoing site recce is completed.
The number of flights expected per day is from five to eight depending on the demand.
An official of the Health department said the government envisages to scale up the project for the entire state by setting up similar drone stations at strategic locations. They will integrate with the existing public health supply chain and enable better health outcomes for the citizens.
The official said the state’s public health supply chain faces numerous logistical challenges, which affect the delivery of healthcare items to hard-to-reach health facilities.
It is said that apart from the challenging road network infrastructure and hard terrain, natural disasters, emergencies and security threats contribute to an already overburdened public health system, resulting in increased vulnerability of children and mothers.
Considering that 79% of the population of Meghalaya resides in rural areas as per Census 2011, the government finds it imperative to complement its in-state logistics through the integration of drone technology.
