India is all set to import second hand ventilators as Covid-19 cases shoot up

• Amid the Coronavirus chaos and shortage of medical supplies, the Indian government lifted a ban on import of used ventilators.
  
• The Union Environment Ministry eased the country’s import policy by permitting import of second-hand ventilators till September 30, 2020.
  
• As per the government data, India has nearly 40,000 ventilators as of now and orders for 49,000 new ventilators have already been placed this month.
  
• However, medical practitioners believe that used ventilators are mostly outdated and already junked by patients and then sold at low prices in India.

As Coronavirus cases surge, India is running out of ventilators to treat its patients. To ease the supply, the government is ready to even import used ventilators and temporarily lifted a ban on it.

The Union Environment Ministry eased the country’s import policy by permitting import of second-hand ventilators till September 30, 2020. Hospitals can now acquire used ventilators or those that are already imported but stopped at custom checks.

This ban was put in place to regulate the import of hazardous and other waste materials. As per the original guidelines, the import of critical care equipment like ventilators are prohibited for reuse.

While this move may help increase the numbers, several doctors and industry specialists are worried about the quality of the ventilators that patients would be exposed to.

The central and state government are planning to double inventories of ventilators to help severely-ill Covid-19 patients. India has 11,201 active Coronavirus cases, as on April 17.

As per government data, India has around 40,000 ventilators and orders for 49,000 new ventilators have already been placed this month.

Refurbished ventilator market is unregulated

Doctors and medical practitioners believe that used ventilators are mostly outdated and already junked by patients, and then sold at low prices in India.

“Though it sounds like an attractive option, the government should not allow such imports without ensuring that these ventilators are compliant to HLL procurement specifications, tested at NABL accredited labs to HLL specifications and ISI standards, bank guarantees of 100% value by importers of assured warranty and delivery of services and spares over the next seven years minimum at their cost,” Rajiv Nath, the coordinator of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) told ET.

He also said that quality checks are critical since the market is highly unregulated in refurbished medical equipment.

India pushes for more ventilators

Last month, industry icon Kiran Mazumdar Shaw pitched to the Narendra Modi government to procure ventilators produced by a Mysuru-based manufacturer, Skanray Technologies. “They can produce 5,000 (units) per month. GOI needs to procure these urgently. In fact, they could ramp up even more,” Shaw tweeted.

She is not the only one. “Infections need not result in mortality. We need to up our capacity in the next few weeks,” Samir Saran, President of the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, several top companies including General Motors and Mahindra Group said that they will help produce the “much-needed” ventilators for treating COVID-19 patients.

See also:
After 50,000 PPE kits from China fail quality tests, India ramps up in-house production

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw wants the Modi government to buy more ventilators — she’s even telling them where to shop and for how much