Drone lifeline for tribal healthcare in state

Vijayawada: As part of efforts to improve access to emergency healthcare in remote tribal regions, the state health and family welfare department has entered into an agreement with a private firm, Red Wing, to supply medicines and blood units to hospitals using drones.

Under the agreement, drone-based medical logistics will be operated with Paderu in Alluri Sitarama Raju district as the central hub. The initiative aims to ensure timely delivery of essential medicines, vaccines and blood units to healthcare facilities located in hard-to-reach tribal and hilly areas.

The health department said Red Wing, which has already been successfully providing similar services in Arunachal Pradesh, has agreed to offer services free of cost for the first six to seven months as part of a “proof of concept” initiative in the state.

The agreement was signed between health and family welfare commissioner M Veerapandiyan and a representative of the company, Kundan Madireddy, according to an official release.

With Paderu as the main hub, drone services will cover Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) located within a radius of 60 to 80 kilometres. The drones will be equipped with cold-chain facilities to ensure that medicines and vaccines are transported safely without any loss of quality.

Each drone can carry a payload of up to two kilograms. Apart from delivering medicines and vaccines, the drones will also be used to transport blood units during emergencies. On their return journey, they will carry blood, urine and stool samples collected from patients to laboratories for diagnostic testing.

Commissioner Veerapandiyan said the drone services are expected to begin by the end of next month.

Officials pointed out that transporting medicines to tribal hill areas by road is time-consuming and often difficult, especially during emergencies. With the primary objective of saving lives, the coalition government is focusing on the use of drone technology to bridge critical gaps in healthcare delivery.

The government is also considering expanding the service in the future to transport medicines from King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam to Paderu, further strengthening the supply chain for emergency medical services in tribal regions.