Medicine from the Sky: Telangana Hits Milestone for Drone Delivery of Medical Supplies to Remote Areas

The Government of Telangana is one step closer to rolling out a large-scale programme for delivery of blood and vital medical supplies via drones.
* It adopted a framework codesigned with the World Economic Forum and Apollo Hospitals Group Healthnet Global Limited that outlines the requirements for drone delivery and how to assess proposals. * The programme will connect communities across the state, providing better access to healthcare. * A government issued Expression of Interest (EOI) and 2020 pilot will pave the way to rolling out the programme. * <weforum.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&id=031c4f04c8&e=0d5038c9c4> Read the report and learn more about the India Economic Summit <weforum.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&id=eee4c7a4fd&e=0d5038c9c4> here
New Delhi, The Government of Telangana has been exploring the use of drones to increase access to healthcare for communities across the state. Drones can dramatically cut transport times and increase supply chain efficiencies. Countries around the world have experimented with drones for last-mile delivery for the past five years, but the first big leap forward took place in Rwanda, where experiments, or pilot projects, matured into national-scale implementations. Through drones, Rwanda cut the delivery time of medical goods from four hours to <weforum.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&id=e2585711f2&e=0d5038c9c4> fifteen minutes, in some cases, and saved <weforum.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&id=45745d6fca&e=0d5038c9c4> thousands of lives in the process.
Now, Telangana is one step closer to actioning its own large-scale programme to deliver blood and transport of medical samples via drone. The Government has adopted a <weforum.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&id=386e988a55&e=0d5038c9c4> new framework to implement drones for last mile delivery. This will integrate them into the state’s healthcare supply chain. Co-designed with the World Economic Forum and Healthnet Global Limited, an Apollo Hospitals Group company, the framework will become the foundation for the pilot project to test drone delivery and eventually for an RFP.
“Drones are helping people in remote rural areas become connected to important services,” said Timothy Reuter, Head of Aerospace and Drones, at the World Economic Forum. “Adopting this framework brings Telangana one step closer to rolling out a system that could save lives. It outlines what challenges drones can solve, how to oversee operations and how to implement them. We are looking forward to the next steps of this project.”
“Apollo Hospitals Group company HealthNet Global Limited truly believes that use of Drones for transport of Organs and other Medical aid will contribute to saving many lives. We are happy working with the World Economic Forum and Government of Telangana, as a clinical partner in this drones project, which I am sure is the next step in our journey of remote healthcare delivery,” says Dr. Sangita Reddy, JMD Apollo Hospitals Group.