New Delhi, July 17 -- The Indian Council of Medical Research's drone-assisted transport of tuberculosis (TB) sputum samples initiative significantly improved access to diagnostic services, with the median turnaround time for TB diagnosis decreasing from 15 days to 5 days for people living in remote and underserved areas.

The assessment of its flagship i-DRONE initiative also showed there was significant reduction in out-of-pocket-expenditure of patients 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 National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). The study compared the conventional system of patie...