India to import key medical products from China to control COVID-19 outbreak: GlobalData 

Shortage of medical equipments is going to be biggest challenge though government has already banned export of these devices with immediate effect

With the demand of key medical items such as ventilators, N95 masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) surging following the rise of the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, the Indian government has reached out to China to restore the supply of these devices and vital components required for manufacturing. The shortage of medical equipments is going to be the biggest challenge though the government has already banned the export of these devices with immediate effect, says GlobalData.

GlobalData’s research reveals that the Indian ventilators market, which accounted for around 12 per cent of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) ventilators market in 2019, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8 per cent through 2025.

Currently, India’s public health spending of the gross domestic product (GDP) is amongst the lowest in the world. India has a poor health infrastructure with fewer intensive care beds and ventilators and most of them are based in large cities. Private healthcare facilities are better equipped but expensive and are non-accessible to a majority of the population.

Rohit Anand, Medical Devices Analyst, GlobalData, comments: “Since the supply chain was severely impacted amid the COVID-19 outbreak, restoring supplies with China will reduce some pressure. As the number of cases are expected to rise, India would like to ramp up the supply and production of ventilators, N95 masks and other devices needed to treat COVID-19 patients and the government would like to manufacture these products indigenously to keep the prices under control.”

Anand concludes: “India at this stage also needs a large number of makeshift hospitals and isolation units to treat COVID-19 patients as the existing healthcare facilities will not be enough if the number of patients surge in a pattern similar to Europe and the US. The Government may consider railway coaches to create such facilities as country is well connected through railway network and such a facility can be moved to even the remote parts of India in the case of a possible outbreak.”