Drone hub for delivery of medicines, anti-venoms in hilly Meghalaya

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the drone delivery hub at Jengjal would deliver medicines and other live-saving drugs within 50 km

A drone on Monday delivered medicines from Jengjal sub-divisional hospital to Padeldoba public health centre in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district in 30 minutes, which normally takes 2.5 hours by road.

This marked the inauguration of a drone delivery hub and network, the first such facility in the hilly Northeastern states where delivering medicines is a concern due to hilly terrain and improper road network. The drone delivery hub was inaugurated by the Meghalaya government with the help of Tech-Eagles, a drone delivery start-up.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the drone delivery hub at Jengjal would deliver medicines and other life-saving drugs within 50 km.

"This is a ground-breaking effort and intends to improve the universal access to healthcare in the state by delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood, and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network," said a statement issued by Meghalaya Health System Strengthening Project.

Meghalaya health minister James Sangma, who inaugurated the service said Meghalaya would be the first state to institutionalise the drone delivery system that can be expanded to other parts of the state.

Ramkumar S, Project Director, Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project said, "The drone station system seeks to provide access to life-saving drugs and other medical essentials to far-flung and hard-to-reach areas of the State. It is meant for regular delivery of medicines, vaccines, blood samples, anti-venoms, etc.”

Vikram Singh, CEO and founder of TechEagle said, “Transforming the logistics and healthcare supply chain is at the heart of TechEagle’s vision and this initiative is a first big step forward in the direction of achieving the goal of universal access to healthcare and logistics across the world.”

TechEagle’s Vertiplane X3 drone delivered different healthcare products including snake venom-2 pax, labetalol- 4 pax, human albumin-1 pax, cefotaxime (typhoid dose)- 50 pax in its first flight which was 5X faster in comparison to ground transportation.