Redwing Labs

ALT #worldhealthday2022

ALT TB prevalence among the tribal communities of India is estimated to be 703 per 100,000, as against the national average of 256 per 1,00,000. Out of all TB notified patients in the country, 10.4% belong to tribal communities. There is also a lack of molecular diagnostic facilities in more than 50% of the tribal blocks within the tribal districts. Remote locations, hilly, uneven and forest-covered terrain of most tribal villages add to the challenges and make it even more difficult to access and provide diagnosis and treatment services. Addressing this diagnostic gap, USAID-funded Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, as a part of Anamaya (Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s initiative to end TB by 2025) conducted a pilot using drone technology to augment TB diagnosis. Automated drones were used to collect and transport sputum samples from persons with symptoms suggestive of pulmonary (lung) TB to the diagnostic centers.

ALT Two test runs were conducted between Kesinga and Bhawanipatna; and Narla and Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district of Odisha. The battery-operated hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operate on significantly low energy, can carry a maximum weight of 2kgs, and are temperature-controlled to ensure no damage to the samples occurs. Drone systems can be used to transport drugs, vaccines, sputum, blood, and urine samples to and from remote and hard-to-reach areas, thereby filling the huge diagnostic gap and strengthening the public healthcare systems.