GEOSPATIAL MODELING OF DRONE-BASED BLOOD DELIVERY TO IMPROVE EQUITABLE ACCESS IN INDIA arazmi1@jh.edu

 

GEOSPATIAL MODELING OF DRONE-BASED BLOOD DELIVERY TO IMPROVE EQUITABLE ACCESS IN INDIA

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Siddhesh Zadey sidzadey@asarforindia.org Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology New York United States

Nakul Raykar nraykar@bwh.harvard.edu Harvard Medical School Program in Global Surgery and Social Change Boston United States

 

 

United States

Oral or Poster

Lack of timely access to blood products in rural areas hinders emergency care in India. Regional and sociodemographic inequities delay access to transfusion in addition to blood shortages. Drones offer a solution by enabling rapid, terrain-independent delivery of blood products. However, their population-level impact in India has not been evaluated.

We developed a geospatial simulation model to evaluate the impact of drone-based blood delivery across India. Using health facility data from India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, motorized travel friction surfaces from the Malaria Atlas Project, road data from OpenStreetMap and Google Roads, and WorldPop data, we mapped travel times between first-referral units (FRUs) and blood banks, and modeled drone sites. Simulations were conducted with 10% of blood banks as launch sites.

Deploying drones from 10% of blood banks reduced FRUs > 60 minutes from the nearest blood bank from 12% to 2%, with significant gains in states with poor baseline access. Simulated drone placements brought timely geographic blood access under 60 minutes for 72 million people. In underserved states, such as Assam, the fraction of population > 60 min to blood availability is almost halved with simulated drone placement (38% to 20%). In Meghalaya, a single drone site reduces the population > 60 min from blood product availability by nearly one-third (49% to 34%).

Our findings suggest that even small-scale deployments can generate substantial impact. India and other LMICs should consider integrating drone technology into healthcare supply chains while leveraging geographic information systems for optimal resource utilization.