Efficient, accurate, and reliable.

In the league of air superiority, drones have once again exemplified its prowess not in the battlefield, but in the field of transportation through delivering life-saving interventions like vaccines and medicines, cutting travel time by more than half. Other than its efficiency, the drones are more environment-friendly as it lessens carbon dioxide emissions.

Philippine Flying Labs (PFL) made it possible to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to a community over the mountainous terrain of Tawi-Tawi all in a matter of eight minutes, a task that typically takes 30 minutes through local vehicles.

A non-profit organization that specializes in operating unmanned aerial vehicles powered by artificial intelligence, PFL accomplished this milestone by delivering 20 vials of Covid-19 vaccinesver a 9-kilometer distance from Batu-Batu to Parangan, both located in Tawi-Tawi last March.

Dr. Heidi Sampang, Managing Director of Philippine Flying Labs said that this particular delivery is a landmark in vaccine delivery because it was able to fulfill the cold chain requirement of vaccines, maintaining a temperature of 4ºC throughout the entirety of the drone flight’s duration. The delivered vaccines were used immediately to vaccinate residents of Paranga.

In addition to that, Sampang said that this delivery was made free of charge to the local government.

During the same month, PFL also completed the first medical cargo drone deliveries in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia, which included the transportation of COVID-19 vaccines.

In February of 2022, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines granted the first Beyond Visual Line of Sight authorization in the Philippines to PFL. This enables PFL to operate their cargo drones through long distances so they can deliver essential medicine and vaccines to remote communities.

With this permission, the PFL began preparations for medical cargo delivery. PFL’s drone pilots underwent extensive training facilitated by WeRobotics, an international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that provides technical expertise to local groups. The training was held in Zamboanga City’s Freeport Ecozone, after which the team headed to Tawi-Tawi to scout possible delivery sites in the province.

In collaboration with Tawi-Tawi’s provincial health medical team, local aviation officials, and the Second Marine Brigade, the PFL team completed two successful deliveries in two different topographical areas.

The first delivery was an over-water delivery from Sibutu Island to Sipangkot island on March 2. The transported parcel contained 1 kilogram of antibiotics, antacids, and other needs of the community.

According to PFL, the delivery, which spanned a 4.8-kilometer distance, was completed in merely seven minutes. To put this in perspective, the diesel-powered boats that are currently used for deliveries in this area can take from 30 minutes to several hours to complete this journey. Boats are also highly dependent on water conditions and logistical issues, making deliveries highly variable.

“These pilot projects provide new insights into the viability of and challenges to medical cargo drone delivery. They can help local officials and other stakeholders evaluate the usefulness of these approaches to reach the last mile communities. They will also help Philippine aviation authorities develop protocols for future BVLOS authorizations,” Sampang said.

In a similar effort in Agusan Del Sur, Sampang shared that they collaborated with the provincial health team of Agusan Del Sur and Pfizer Foundation to conduct a test site from Km 41 to Km 55 of Bgy. San Luis. She said that these areas are hard to reach and passable only to 4x4 vehicles and habal-habal. Habal-habal trips cost between P5,000 to P6,000 and are prone to accidents.

But with the drones, the usual two-hour trip was cut to just nine minutes through the use of drones. Sampang said that they were able to deliver Pfizer vaccines, TB sputum samples and water samples.

Because of the successes of the provincial medical deliveries, the PFL team will be working again with Tawi-Tawi officials to implement a two-month schedule of medical cargo deliveries between the island municipalities of Sibutu and Sipangkot. The cargo will include essential medicines and vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines.