In a first of its kind, the health department launched a drone service on trial to deliver medicines to the rural communities in the East Kameng district. The service was launched on 15 August by Chief Minister Pema Khandu. The ‘medicines from the sky’ is an initiative supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by IPE Global. The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the state government are coming together for this project.
People of the state will have to wait for some time to know the outcome of the trial run.
The trial run will give basic ideas about its feasibility and whether it can be successful. But there is no denying this is a very important initiative by the health department. Arunachal Pradesh is a very big state and a large part of the state still does not have proper road connectivity. It becomes very difficult to travel from one place to another. Things become more difficult when the monsoon arrives. Considering these facts the idea of delivering medicines by using drone service is worth trying. This will help to save many lives, especially in the far-flung areas of the state. It will not be easy to implement ‘medicines from the sky’ but the health department should try every possible means to make it successful. What is heartening to know is that the project is being funded by USAID. This means there is no additional financial burden on the state government. The government should try to tie with more such funding agencies and implement more innovative projects like the ‘medicines from the sky’ initiative.