Introduction: Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have emerged as versatile tools across various sectors, including defence, agriculture, surveillance, mining, infrastructure, emergency response, transportation, geospatial mapping and notably medical supply delivery to challenging terrains. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using drones for delivering essential medical supplies in Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, situated amidst the Middle Himalayan Range, where heavy snowfall during peak winter restricts access to remote regions, posing logistical hurdles for healthcare provision. Methods: This cross-sectional used a mixed-method approach alongside assessing the drone-based medical delivery. Insights from healthcare workers were documented on sociodemographic characteristics, local healthcare facilities and challenges encountered during drone operations. Results: A total of 15 sorties were conducted, efficiently transporting 1000 units of medicines and 20 clinical samples. Throughout the drone operation, various technological and health-related challenges were encountered due to the high altitude and the cold weather conditions. Additionally, it has been observed that drones could play a pivotal role in supplementing traditional medical supplies. Particularly, the transportation of the medical supplies in emergency situations and delivery of diagnostic samples from peripheral villages. Conclusion: The study observed that drones present a viable solution for enhancing healthcare accessibility in hard-to-reach regions, particularly for expeditiously delivering diagnostic samples and essential medications during emergencies. The findings underscore the potential of drones to complement existing healthcare systems, providing an efficient means to address logistical challenges in remote areas.

Background: The public health landscape in North-East India is marked by the foundational principle of equitable health care provision, a critical endeavor considering the region’s intricate geography and proximity to international borders. Health care workers grapple with challenges, such as treacherous routes, limited infrastructure, and diverse cultural nuances, when delivering essential medical services. Despite improvements since the National Rural Health Mission in 2005, challenges persist, prompting a study to identify health care workers’ challenges and alternative strategies in Manipur and Nagaland. Objective: This study aims to document the challenges experienced by health care workers during service delivery in the geographically challenging terrains of North-East India. Methods: This study is part of the i-DRONE (Indian Council of Medical Research’s Drone Response and Outreach for North East) project, which aims to assess the feasibility of drone-mediated vaccine and medical delivery. This study addresses the secondary objective of the i-DRONE project. In-depth interviews of 29 health care workers were conducted using semistructured questionnaires in 5 districts (Mokokchung and Tuensang in Nagaland, and Imphal West, Bishnupur, and Churachandpur in Manipur). Nineteen health facilities, including primary health care centers, community health centers, and district hospitals, were selected. The study considered all levels of health care professionals who were in active employment for the past 6 months without a significant vacation and those who were engaged in ground-level implementation, policy, and maintenance activities. Data were recorded, transcribed, and translated, and subsequently, codes, themes, and subthemes were developed using NVivo 14 (QSR International) for thematic analysis. Results: Five themes were generated from the data: (1) general challenges (challenges due to being an international borderline district, human resource constraints, logistical challenges for medical supply, infrastructural issues, and transportation challenges); (2) challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic (increased workload, lack of diagnostic centers, mental health challenges and family issues, routine health care facilities affected, stigma and fear of infection, and vaccine hesitancy and misinformation); (3) perception and awareness regarding COVID-19 vaccination; (4) alternative actions or strategies adopted by health care workers to address the challenges; and (5) suggestions provided by health care workers. Health care workers demonstrated adaptability by overcoming these challenges and provided suggestions for addressing these challenges in the future. Conclusions: Health care workers in Manipur and Nagaland have shown remarkable resilience in the face of numerous challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. Despite infrastructural limitations, communication barriers, and inadequate medical supply distribution in remote areas, they have demonstrated adaptability through innovative solutions like efficient data management, vaccination awareness campaigns, and leveraging technology for improved care delivery. The findings are pertinent for not only health care practitioners and policymakers but also the broader scientific and public health communities. However, the findings may have limited generalizability beyond Manipur and Nagaland.

The global re-emergence of monkeypox (Mpox) in non-endemic regions in 2022 has highlighted the critical importance of timely virus detection and robust public health surveillance in assessing outbreaks and their impact. Despite significant Mpox research being conducted worldwide, there is an urgent need to identify knowledge gaps and prioritize key research areas in order to create a roadmap that maximizes the utilization of available resources. The present research article provides a comprehensive mapping of health research priorities aimed at advancing our understanding of Mpox and developing effective interventions for managing its outbreaks, and, as evidenced by the fact that achieving this objective requires close interdisciplinary collaboration. The key research priorities observed were identifying variants responsible for outbreaks; discovering novel biomarkers for diagnostics; establishing suitable animal models; investigating reservoirs and transmission routes; promoting the One Health approach; identifying targets for vaccination; gaining insight into the attitudes, experiences, and practices of key communities, including stigma; and ensuring equity during public health emergencies. The findings of this study hold significant implications for decision making by multilateral partners, including research funders, public health practitioners, policy makers, clinicians, and civil society, which will facilitate the development of a comprehensive plan not only for Mpox but also for other similar life-threatening viral infections.

Baclofen and Lamotrigine via PLGA nanoparticles were developed for nose-to-brain delivery for the treatment of Neuropathic pain.Nanoparticles were prepared using the modified nano-precipitation met... Baclofen and Lamotrigine loaded PLGA nanoparticles were prepared with a size of 177.7nm, PDI 0.057 and Zeta Potential −15.8 mVIn vitro cell lines based studies showed dose dependant cytotoxicity an...

Background: Delays in transporting sputum samples and medicines from peripheral health centers to diagnostic laboratories are a persistent barrier to timely tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in rural India. Conventional transport methods are often constrained by poor road connectivity, long travel times, and logistical inefficiencies. Unmanned aerial vehicles/drones have shown promise in bridging such gaps in other low-resource and rural areas, yet there is limited evidence on their feasibility, acceptability, and integration within India's National TB Elimination Programme. Methods: In the present qualitative study, 28 in-depth interviews and 12 focus group discussions with 101 purposively selected stakeholders were conducted to understand the feasibility across the five components: acceptability, demand, practicality, implementation, and integration. Data were thematically analyzed using a feasibility framework. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC No: AIIMS/BBN/IEC/JULY/2022/164), and written and verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants. Results: Participants highlighted that drones improved acceptability, demand, and integration by reducing travel, enabling timely sputum and medicine delivery, and building community trust. Practicality and implementation were supported by coordination and district authority support, and while stigma, limited payload, weather disruptions, and training gaps were noted, they were viewed as improvable. Peripheral workers were central to community uptake and routine adoption. Conclusion: Drone-based sputum and medicine transport is operationally feasible and acceptable in rural Indian settings, and participants viewed drones as a promising way to reduce sample transport times and improve access to diagnostics, particularly in hard-to-reach areas. Addressing awareness gaps, stigma, operational barriers, and regulatory delays, while embedding drones into existing health systems, could enable sustainable scale-up and strengthen rural diagnostic networks.