Dehradun: The Health Department of Uttarakhand has successfully completed the trial of drone technology to deliver medicines and vaccines in a time-bound manner.
To deliver medicines to remote areas of the state, the unique initiative by the health department to provide vaccines to the beneficiaries living in remote districts of the state through information technology proved successful in the shortest possible time. Secretary Uttarakhand Medical Health and Medical Education Department R Rajesh Kumar said the vaccine dose was successfully delivered from Dehradun to the border district of Uttarkashi in just 40 minutes by the health department using drone technology. Under the immunisation programme, 400 doses of Diphtheria Tetanus (DPT) and Penta have been delivered by drone to the Chief Medical Officer's office, Uttarkashi. Normally it takes 5-6 hours by road.
Kumar said the road is used to deliver medicines or vaccines in the state, which takes a lot of time and sometimes there is difficulty in delivering medicines due to disaster.
It is the endeavour of the Health Department that there should not be any delay in the distribution of medicines and medicines and vaccines should be available on time in all medical units and in such places and villages where there is no road facility, he added.
In the near future, the facility of drone technology will prove to be a milestone in delivering first aid medicines and other materials on time in case of accident, disaster or any other critical situation, he said. "We will maintain the availability of vaccine in all the medical units of the state so that the vaccination of the eligible beneficiaries is easy," Kumar said. —ANI