The Health Ministry stated on Thursday that it had ensured delivery of 36,433 ventilators to government hospitals in the nation and the typical expense now ranges amongst Rs 2-10 lakh as the domestic business took up manufacturing of the gear. The ministry underlined that all public wellness facilities in the nation had only about 16,000 ventilators from the Independence till pre-COVID occasions. But in much less than 12 months, 36,433 ‘Make in India’ ventilators have been supplied to all the public wellness facilities, it stated in a statement.
All export restrictions on ventilators have now been removed and ‘Make in India’ ventilators are becoming exported. The year witnessed tremendous achievements in the health-related supplies sector in the nation, the ministry stated. “At the beginning of the pandemic, India was almost totally dependent on imported ventilators, PPE kits and N-95 masks,” it stated. “There were, in fact, no standard specifications for these products which are essential in the fight against the pandemic.”
The central government recognised the challenges posed by the pandemic in the extremely initial stages and effectively ensured more than sufficient availability and supplies of necessary health-related things across the nation, according to the ministry. In the case of individual protective gear (PPE), India has now turn into the world’s second-biggest manufacturer from a miniscule domestic production capacity in March. There is a production capacity of more than 10 lakh PPE coveralls per day and it is also exported to a number of nations, the ministry stated.
There are currently practically 1,700 indigenous suppliers and suppliers registered on the government e-marketplace, with dozens currently certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Nearly 1.7 crore lakh PPE kits have been distributed absolutely free of expense to the states, Union territories and central institutions. “The buffer stock of PPE kits available with the central and state governments has grown from about 2 lakh in March to more than 89 lakh at present. The average price has come down substantially from nearly Rs 600 to about Rs 200 per kit in 9 months,” the ministry stated.
There have been only 3 suppliers of N-95 masks with a production capacity of much less than 1 lakh masks per day. Now more than 3,000 suppliers and suppliers, like 1,509 BIS-certified ones, of N-95 masks are currently registered on the government portal and the domestic production capacity has risen to more than 8 lakh per day, it stated. These are also becoming exported from India in huge quantities. More than 4 crore N-95 masks have so far been distributed absolutely free of expense to different states, Union territories and central institutions.
The buffer stock of N-95 masks readily available with the central and state governments has risen sharply from about 9 lakh in March to about 1.46 crore at present and the typical rates have dropped from about Rs 40 to Rs 12 per mask throughout the very same period,the ministry stated. The government has currently placed orders for procurement of practically 83 crore syringes. Additionally, bids have also been invited for practically 35 crore syringes. These will be utilized for COVID vaccination and also for the universal immunisation programme.