Drones to help diagnose TB cases in Chamba

Our Correspondent 

Chamba, August 17

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has accorded approval to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, for fast-track diagnosis of complicated tuberculosis (TB) cases in hilly, inaccessible and difficult terrains of the district.

A feasibility project report on adopting drones for transporting sputum samples and testing drug resistance of TB was completed by Dr Vishal Thakur of the state health services under the supervision of Dr P Ganeshkumar of the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai.  

In a communiqué issued here, Dr Thakur, also principal investigator of the feasibility project, said, “TB is a serious disease requiring prompt identification and proper treatment as per the TB Control Programme in difficult terrains of the district,” adding that the study received good response and prompt approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, New Delhi.   

The findings suggested that the use of drones had reduced the duration of transportation by nine times and the cost by seven times as compared to conventional transportation methods,” said Dr Thakur, adding that this might be the maiden experimental use of drone for the health sector in the country.