In news- Union Health Minister recently launched an initiative to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine delivery to tough and hard-to-reach terrains of the Northeast through drones.
About Drone Response and Outreach in North East (i-Drone)-
- The ICMR’s i-Drone is a delivery model to make sure that life-saving COVID vaccines reach everyone.
- As the vaccine delivery in tough and hard-to-reach terrains of India is difficult, i-Drone has been designed to overcome these challenges by deploying Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV) / drones to remote area.
- This is for the first time that a “Make in India’ drone has been used in Southeast Asia to transport vaccines.
- The vaccine was carried over an aerial distance of 15 km in 12-15 mins from the Bishnupur district hospital to Loktak lake, Karang island in Manipur for administration at the PHC.
- Currently, the project has been granted permission for implementation in Manipur and Nagaland, as well as the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The ICMR conducted an initial study in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to test the capacity of drones to carry and transfer vaccines safely.
Source: The Hindu
