Drones have long ceased to have a simple recreational utility: their capabilities benefit many other areas –especially logistics–, an opportunity that is not being missed in the field of health either. Over short distances, unmanned aerial vehicles have proven their advantages in rapidly moving organs between hospitals in the same city. When moving through the air, these devices avoid the dense urban traffic that ambulances must overcome.
But the health use of drones is not limited to the previous example; its use also flies over the transport of medicines. In the United States, they are even used to make home deliveries, a service for which the pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS, two health giants in that country, compete. Both collaborate with the multinational courier companies Fedex and UPS, respectively. In the case of Walgreens, this first experience is taking place in the state of Virginia. The catalog of products that can be distributed by air is situated around one hundred medicines – all can be purchased without a prescription – from various categories: allergies, baby care, colds and coughs, pain and food supplements. The selection is based on the items with the highest sales in the chain’s physical pharmacies. Regarding the delivery conditions, Walgreens ensures the receipt of the order “in just a few minutes.” The service is also offered to those users who make the purchase in the establishment but wish to receive it at home, a model similar to that of supermarkets.
Walgreens was a Pioneer in opening this path, although a few days later – in an attempt to keep pace – so did its main competitor, CVS. “We are always looking to improve convenience for our customers through faster, lower cost and more efficient delivery models,” said Kevin Hourican, president of CVS Pharmacy.
The first Spanish experience
Last November, Teruel witnessed the first drug distribution test with drones in our country. Novaltia – a pharmaceutical distributor that operates mainly in Aragon and Vizcaya – successfully sent a device equipped with a specific container for storing drugs from the provincial airport to a pharmacy in Gea de Albarracín, a town located about twenty kilometers away. However, the claims of the project are very different from those of US companies, which use drones for commercial purposes. In the case of Spain, it is only proposed to solve emergency situations in the supply to establishments located in areas of difficult access or in response to adverse weather scenarios ; in no case, for the direct shipment of medicines to users. In addition, the legislation itself would not allow this use of unmanned devices today.
By Alberto Cornejo
