India, July 16 -- The Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) drone-assisted transport initiative for tuberculosis (TB) sputum samples significantly improved access to diagnostic services, reducing the median turnaround time for TB diagnosis from 15 days to five days for people living in remote and underserved areas, a study has found.

The assessment of its flagship i-DRONE initiative also showed a significant reduction in patients' out-of-pocket expenditure on transportation.

The findings emerged from a programme-based study conducted in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district of Telangana in collaboration with AIIMS Bibinagar and the District TB Office under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). The study compared the conventional sy...