Apollo Hospital’s Healthnet Global, World Economic Forum (WEF), the government of Telangana and NITI Aayog have come up with an insight report on ‘Medicine from the Sky’, a drone-based method of taking healthcare to the masses. 

The report provides a comprehensive look at the Medicine from the Sky project whereby, in the first scheme of its kind, vaccines were delivered beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) using drones.

With the recent completion of the country's first organised medical drone-delivery programme known as 'Medicine from the Sky' which delivered a range of medical products over a long range, it is quite clear that such unmanned aerial vehicles can be a force multiplier for existing healthcare infrastructure in the country. 

In the 'medicine from the Sky' project, a government area hospital was chosen as the take-off site and various PHCs and sub-centers as the landing sites. Of the 8 activated health facilities in the areas (six PHCs and two SCs), the area hospital identified as the take-off site for trials was not equipped with a cold-chain facility. This was also enabled by Apollo Hospitals. 

“Telangana has been a torchbearer for the fourth industrial revolution” said KT Rama Rao, Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology of Telangana. “Using drones to successfully enable a case for touching the lives of citizens in remote and inaccessible areas is a highlight that demonstrates how drones can be integrated into the healthcare ecosystem. After Telangana, several other states have replicated the medical delivery use case”, he added highlighting how the Medicine from the Sky program sparked a delivery revolution in the region.