Drones are commonly used for surveillance or photography. But if we say that life-saving drugs will be delivered by drones, it is normal to be surprised! The Telangana government is considering such an initiative, which is called “Medicine From The Sky”. With the help of this initiative from the Telangana government, drones will be able to reach different parts of the state with drugs, vaccines, blood, various samples for laboratory tests and various medical supplies. The project was launched on September 11, 2021, from the Vikarabad district of Telangana. The Telangana government has already obtained permission from the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
What is Sky Medicine (MFTS)?
This project is initiated by the Emerging Technologies wing of the State IT Department, which has a partnership with the World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog, and HealthNet Global. The aim of MFTS is to experiment with Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for vaccine delivery using the airspace of the Vikarabad district.
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In 2020, the Telangana government signed a partnership with the World Economic Forum to launch the MFTS project. Later, they issued an expression of interest (EOI) to identify the ability of drones to provide accurate, safe and reliable collection and delivery of health products. However, around 16 consortiums or logistics farms and drone operators have expressed interest in the project and the government has shortlisted 8.
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India has never launched this type of project before and it would be the first BVLOS drone test held in the country. In addition, it is also the first initiative in the field of health.
Prior to the launch event, three consortia Hepicopter Consortium (Marut Drones), Bluedart Med Express Consortium (Skye Air) and CurisFly Consortium (TechEagle Innovations) reached Vikarabad for test flights. After launch, the eight consortia will continue to test long-haul travel and heavier payloads to see reliability.
What are the opportunities ?
Although drones are widely used for photography, video shooting, mapping and other operations. But, the current COVID-19 pandemic has increased the scope of drone use beyond the limit. In accordance with the published plan, the selected consortia will demonstrate the use of BVLOS flights in Vikarabad district. They will use the government zone hospital to take off, and various primary health centers (PHCs) and sub-centers will be landing sites.
Thus, startups and private sector companies can collaborate with the state government and integrate with the government health system to improve the traditional delivery system of vital items. Thinking of the current pandemic, the sky medicine project can provide access to health centers in rural and remote areas.
Hepicopter consortium, one of the selected consortia, mentioned that India can operate up to five UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) or drones per district with a range of 40 km. Over this distance, the payload can reach 15 kg with an autonomy of two hours. It is assumed that the government can cover 718 districts in India using 3,600 drones and distribute 15,000 kg of vaccine in a single day.
How does sky medicine work?
An internal application will be used by the team at the pickup point who will receive a message about the required inventory from the drop-off location.
For example, PHCs can apply through the app to obtain vaccine or medical supplies from district hospitals. When the district hospital team receives the message, load the items according to the request. After that, the drones will take off after a scheduled pre-flight test and check the condition of the wind, GPS tracker and audio pilot system. Then the location details are sent to the system and when the drone is near the drop-off location and about to land, PHC receives a notification. After that, PHC staff can come to the drop-off point and collect the items by entering an OTP. Then the staff can put the necessary items for the return flight or the empty drone comes back by notifying the app.
Marut Drones built a Hepicopter 1.0, capable of carrying a payload of 10 kg. It can travel a maximum distance of 15 km with an endurance of 30 minutes at a flight altitude of 400 feet. In addition, Hepicopter 1.0 can hold four boxes and each box can hold up to 10 units of blood or more than 500 doses of vaccine. Thus, a single flight can carry around 2000 to 3000 doses of vaccine.
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They also made another battery-powered multi-rotor wing drone, Hepicopter 2.0. This gasoline drone can carry up to 5 kg with a maximum endurance of 80 minutes. It can fly up to 80 km at an altitude of 400 to 12,000 feet. This can carry 1000 doses of vaccine in two boxes.
Based on the design, drones can be self-contained or manually operated. Drones are unique in that they can carry multiple temperature-controlled boxes that also maintain different temperature levels. On average, drones can travel 25 km in distance in 30 minutes.
Hi Rapid Lab, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Alpha Design Technologies are among the other consortium partners.
Challenges
There is no doubt that drone delivery will be a game-changer for any logistics organization. But, there are still challenges that organizations have faced and may face in the future. The biggest challenge for existing businesses is getting approval and understanding the regulations. Therefore, favorable government policy is highly needed, so that more startups can come forward to develop the healthcare delivery system.
But the use of drones in “Medicines From The Sky” will surely open up opportunities for other industries. Thus, the government can relax policies aimed at increasing the drone delivery system in health and other sectors.
