Quadcopters offer Bhutan a health cure

They rose, they hovered and then they were gone. Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, stood and watched the trial of unmanned aerial vehicles he hopes could play a radical role in providing healthcare services in his small and mountainous country. In the grounds of the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimpu, Tobgay watched as several tiny “quadcopters” were sent on test flights. The idea was to use the unmanned devices to deliver vital medicine, Tobgay later said in a message posted on social media. “The devices could also pick up samples — blood, urine and others — from basic healthcare units to be analysed.” The country’s terrain makes road-building costly and difficult. This lack of infrastructure and the remote location of many of its communities creates problems not only for farmers and the rapidly growing tourism industry, but also in providing services such as healthcare. Bhutan has just 0.3 doctors for 1000 people. It has 31 hospitals, 178 basic healthcare units and about 650 even more primitive clinics in distant villages. Bhutan has, for example, been looking with the World Health Organisation at the potential for tele-medicine — using cellphones and the internet to allow doctors at the larger hospitals to carry out check-ups remotely. Matternet, a California-based technology start-up, was harnessed to supply a fleet of the environmentally friendly quadcopters to help tackle the health challenge. The vehicles cost £1100 ($2179) to £3000.