All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi may get a drone corridor with its expanding campus in Jhajjar, Haryana, by the end of the year. This would allow life-saving supplies to be delivered in minutes from the parent campus to AIIMS Jhajjar, which is around 50 kilometers away.

A senior aviation ministry official stated that the idea had been authorized by the ministry and the Airports Authority of India, and the scheme was now awaiting permission from the Delhi Police. These drones would help to transport blood samples, blood products, and medications. In the last one year, drones have been used to deliver Covid vaccinations, to remote locations in India, but it was difficult to utilize them in metropolitan areas, particularly in areas that were in the flight path of airports.

Mr. Arjun Aggarwal, MD of drone major Aerodyne India group said that these drones could also help deliver freshly harvested organs from airports to critically ill patients in metropolitan hospitals, where such scenarios are challenging owing to excessive traffic. Another major challenge was maintaining their temperature, as well as dealing with vibrations that may occur during transport and other contingency preparations such as biosafety.

Dr Harsh Mahajan, founder and chief radiologist of Mahajan Imaging and past president of NATHEALTH, believes that the idea of delivering life-saving medical supplies via drones was a great one and that if it works, other medical institutions in different states may follow suit. (ETHealthWorld, June 06, 2022)