Drone Delivery of Authorized Medications: Can It Overcome the Challenges of Traditional Distribution?

Image Title: Drone delivery of authorized Medication

It is well evident that getting the Right Medication to the Right Person at the Right Time saves lives. However, it is easier said than done. Today the need for Medication and its distribution challenges, including quality medicine to patients, are widespread. A 2018 study estimated that 5 million people die every year because of lack of medicines.

Today, drone deliveries are addressing this problem. In addition, Tech and E-commerce giants are working hand in hand with several governments to improve medication delivery.?

Efforts to Deliver Medicines By Drone

One of the most significant efforts to deliver medicines via drones has been made by UPS and CVS. The two companies have joined hands to provide prescription Medication to The Villages retirement community in Florida. The service is using Matternet M2 drones via Federal Aviation Administration authorization.

While this is a significant step forward, do drones solve the problems of medication distribution? Is drone delivery better than traditional distribution?

Medication Distribution Challenges

1.??Loose Regulation

Most emerging markets in the world have loose regulation when it comes to the pharmaceutical sector. Governments are attempting to control the import and distribution of medical drugs. However, product registrations and other regulatory loopholes can take several years to address this issue.

Drone delivery certainly cannot do anything about that.

2.??Uncertain Pricing and Supplies

Distributors are beggars, not choosers, in developing economies. The best value for the minimally accepted quality of the product is achieved, which is an essential consideration for distributors. Hence, if there is no demand for the product, supply will not follow.?

Drone deliveries will not solve this problem either.

3.??Lack of Financial Resources or Labor

Developing economies have a skilled workforce gap and lack of infrastructure to enable speedy deliveries for medicines. However, drones are in the unique position of not needing roads to travel. Hence, with reasonable instruction and geo-mapping, it's possible to enable speedy medicine deliveries.

In fact, it's happening now.

How Companies are Solving Issues on Drone Delivery of Authorized Medication During COVID-19?

Drones have been incredibly useful for delivering vaccines to underserved communities, especially in Africa. Zipline, a San Francisco-based company, has been using its drones to provide Medication to rural areas in Africa.

Zipline is delivering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the COVAX initiative in Ghana through its drones. Over the next year, the company plans to disseminate 2.5 million doses. Deliveries in Nigeria are planned for later in 2021. By 2022, the plan is to supply areas in the US and Rwanda.

Zipline also delivers everything from cancer-treating Medication to personal protective equipment to blood products through its drones. As of April 2021, the business had made 115,000 drone deliveries in total where 20-30% of those trips carried lifesaving products.?

Drones have the distinct advantage of traveling far-off distances in record time. Zipline's drones can cover approx. 175 miles worth of distance within 30 minutes. That is nearly impossible for a car or a bike to do on roads. However, with clear skies and no obstacles, covering that distance is much easier.?

Dunzo is making similar efforts, a Google-backed E-Commerce company, to deliver medicines and COVID-19 vaccines in Telangana, India.?The project is called "Medicine from the Sky." It is a joint venture between the local government and the World Economic Forum.

The project is aimed towards enabling emergency medical deliveries, which include essentials as well as vaccines. Industry experts are helping to facilitate drop-offs beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

Another company working with the Telangana government on the same venture is Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce giant. The company will employ methods like geo-mapping, shipment routing, and real-time tracking to trace deliveries. Flipkart has developed this technology over many years.

Problems with Drone Delivery of Authorized Medication

A study conducted in June 2019 by researchers at King's College London evaluated the delivery of medicines using drones.

The study identified specific issues with drone deliveries of authorized Medication.

1.????The safe flight-time and range need to be determined depending on the gross weight of the medicines to be transported.

2.????A quality test for the medicine is required post-delivery to ensure that the pharmaceutical product has arrived in a stable form.

3.????Deviations in external environmental conditions such as temperature change, pressure variations, vibration frequency, and g-force need to be determined.

Hence, while drone delivery of authorized Medication has been proven to be effective, it still has certain caveats. Only through rigorous experiment and regulation, can these problems be alleviated or eradicated?

At the moment, drone delivery for medications is sparse. However, its practical use can deliver Medication to those who are in need of it.