Drones to provide urban-grade healthcare in India's rural areas: WEF

The World Economic Forum WEF 2022: It shows how drone technology can be scaled up across India to meet urgent healthcare needs in remote areas

Drones can be used to bring quality healthcare to people in the remotest areas of India, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said on Wednesday, citing results of a new experimental programme.

Over a 45-day trial, healthcare professionals delivered vaccines, Covid-19 testing samples and medical products to a population of over 300,000 people, covered by eight healthcare centres in Telangana.

The WEF said it shows how drone technology can be scaled up across India to meet urgent healthcare needs in remote areas, adding it was the first successful trial in Asia of long-range vaccine delivery.

The announcement comes ahead of the WEF Annual Meeting 2022, to be held in Davos-Klosters from May 22 to May 26.

It was conducted as part of a wider programme, Medicine from the Sky, led by the WEF's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India, in partnership with the Government of Telangana, Apollo Hospital's Healthnet Global and NITI Aayog.

The programme aims to work with business, policymakers and communities to use drone technology to extend urban-grade healthcare to India's remotest areas.

According to WEF, the findings of the trial, outlined in the report 'Medicine from the Sky, India: How Drones Can Make Primary Healthcare Accessible to All,' show a practical vision for delivering essential medicines to citizens who lack access.

The programme follows the Drone Rules 2021, introduced by the government as a more liberalised regime for unmanned aircraft systems, which is expected to transform core sectors of the economy, including logistics, agriculture, healthcare and emergency response.

Describing the programme as "pathbreaking", Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia  said that with the recent liberalisation of drone rules and the numerous government incentives for the drone sector, the stage is set for this innovative technology to flourish in India.

"To that end, the Medicine from the Sky initiative has demonstrated how the country can successfully make use of cutting-edge drone technology to ensure no one is left behind in terms of access to primary healthcare. We are hopeful that subsequent phases of this initiative will mainstream drones in healthcare," he added.

Purushottam Kaushik, Head of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India, said that India's policies on the lower skies are opening up new possibilities for innovation, business and humanitarian work.

"It's critical that all citizens can benefit from this technology. This programme is enabling emergency healthcare services in remote terrain where access to services is very challenging. Drones will not only transcend difficult terrain but also pave the way for secure delivery for vaccines, medicines and all sorts of payloads," he said.