Context

Recently, the Department of Health and Family Welfare introduced the Drone vaccine delivery model (Drone Response and Outreach in the Northeast).

About

About the Drone vaccine delivery model

• Developed by: the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
• Aim: To ensure that life-saving drugs reach everyone even in hard and inaccessible areas of India.
• The Drone is designed to overcome challenges by moving Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones to remote and hard-to-reach areas.
• This is the first time the "Make in India 'drone has been used in South Asia to deliver the COVID vaccine over a distance of more than 15 kilometers.
• Currently, a drone-based delivery project has been licensed to operate in Manipur and Nagaland, as well as in the Andaman and Nicobar Island unions.
• Permission was granted to ICMR for research into the feasibility of delivering the Covid-19 vaccine using drones, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur.

Significance

• It will help to fill the gaps in existing vaccination methods and can be used to deliver important life-saving drugs, collect blood samples etc.
• This technology can be used in critical situations. It can be a game changer in addressing challenges in health delivery, especially in the provision of health care in difficult areas.