SHILLONG: The drone delivery of 1.5 kg of medicines to a remote location marked the unveiling of India’s first drone station for transporting drugs at the Jengjalsub-divisional hospital in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district. The delivery, which would have otherwise taken 2.5 hours by road, was made in just five minutes. The ground-breaking effort intends to improve universal access to healthcare in Meghalaya 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. TechEagle’sVertiplane 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.
“We are seeing something that is unparalleled in any place of the world. It is a matter of pride for the state of Meghalaya that we would be the first state to institutionalise this initiative and have a system that can be expanded to other areas of the state as well,” Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma said. With Northeast’s First Drone Delivery Network, the solution provided by TechEagle overcomes the problem of lack of visibility, high delivery costs, outdated technology and inaccessibility through roads and railway networks.
