Healthcare Sector,
Navigating the COVID storm

Himanshu Baid
Managing Director, Poly Medicure Ltd. |
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The industry leaders, the
public and private sector should build learning and
adaptation into their reopening plans from the start
itself.
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Situation has enforced
competitors to collaborate in ways never expected.
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Health care leaders are
shifting their focus from the short-term effects of
the Covid-19 pandemic to the downstream impact they
can expect in the months ahead.
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The med tech sector in India
has stood beside the government & private healthcare
delivery players firmly and is deeply committed to
the war against COVID-19.
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With its import dependence of
raw material for different categories of medical
devices, India must aim for ''import substitution''.
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India can be the destination of
choice for global manufacturing in the post-COVID 19 world
if we have stable and long term regulatory & manufacturing
policies. Also India lacks incentives for the
manufacturing sector like other countries like Vietnam,
Malaysia, Singapore etc.
-
As we begin to settle into a new
normal, our businesses must continue running and include
releasing new products.
-
Government recognizes the need for
more indigenous products, and Polymed is happy to be
contributing to India’s fight against Covid-19.
-
India has a great base of
Engineering talent and we should leverage this with our
entrepreneurial spirit to not only make India self reliant
but a large exporter of Medical devices.
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Every Indian should become "vocal
for their local."
While much of the narrative is about
reopening, many countries, including several of the
largest emerging economies, are still on the upswing of
the epidemic, with daily case counts increasing. Never
before an attempt has been made to shut down the modern
global economy, much less reopen it in the setting of an
ongoing pandemic. We have a few examples that seem to work
better, or worse, but none of us know the best actions
which will certainly work.
As businesses are reopening, companies
plan different approaches, even based on the same
underlying fact base. This implies that the industry
leaders the public and private sectors should build
learning and adaptation into their reopening plans from
the start itself.
Situation has enforced competitors to
collaborate in ways never expected. Companies are banding
together in multilateral collaborations, some formal and
some informal, to boost innovation. Health care leaders
are shifting their focus from the short-term effects of
the Covid-19 pandemic to the downstream impact they can
expect in the months ahead.
The financial consequences of the virus
will demonstrate differently for different sectors, as
well as for individual organizations within each sector,
as they are dependent on a multitude of geography,
industry, and company-specific factors. Healthcare
ecosystem has also been significantly affected by the
COVID-19 outbreak. The demand has been surging for
essential healthcare equipment; however, the supply side
remained low. Countries are unable to meet the demand of
these critical care equipment which has been surged owing
to the increasing number of hospitalizations due to
COVID-19.
Globally, Governments as well as the
private industry players are investing in the acquisition
of healthcare equipment. However, healthcare providers are
witnessing drop in their profit margin due to cashflow
crunch. Different countries across the globe have
witnessed huge declines in revenue over the COVID-19
outbreak.
In India as well, a drop in patient
visits were witnessed in the private healthcare sector
which is estimated to reduce in test volumes and revenue
of the sector. There is a need to consider the healthcare
industry's twin burden viz., low financial state in pre-COVID
state; drop in out-patient footfalls and elective
surgeries, and almost nil international patients is
impacting cash flow; which has impacted the hospitals like
never before.
The med tech sector in India has stood
beside the government & private healthcare delivery
players firmly and is deeply committed to the war against
COVID-19.
The country imports dialysis
consumables, disposables and capital equipment including
orthopedic implants, gloves, bandages, CT Scanners, MRI
machines from other countries. Due to the current crisis
in those countries, the medical device manufacturers
across India are finding it difficult to source important
raw materials and electronic components from these
factories.
With its import dependence of raw
material for different categories of medical devices,
India must aim for ''import substitution''.
Although, Indian medical device
manufacturing is witnessing new entrants offering novel
products, the establishment of a stable base to meet the
domestic demand may take long time. On the other hand,
this is mushrooming up as an opportunity for India to
become a hub of global medical device manufacturing.
India can be the destination of choice
for global manufacturing in the post-COVID 19 world if we
have stable and long term regulatory & Manufacturing
policies. Also India lacks incentives for the
manufacturing sector like other countries like Vietnam,
Malaysia , Singapore etc.
With the changes that come during a
global pandemic like COVID-19, for many companies, it’s
difficult to know what business as usual should look like.
COVID-19 has caused organizations
globally to reexamine and refocus. Yet, as we begin to
settle into a new normal, our businesses must continue
running and include releasing new products.
Polymed has started operations being in
essential services just few days after lock down. The
company has ensured that supplies of its products is
maintained to its customers in India as well in overseas
markets. Polymed has ensured that all its employees stay
safe and maintain all social distancing norms.
Government recognizes the need for more
indigenous products , and Polymed is happy to be
contributing to India’s fight against Covid-19. Our
priority now is to collaborate and work closely with all
stakeholders such as the government, private sector as
well as the medical research fraternity to develop new
products. To make the most of the opportunities, we are
focusing on the growth prospects in the fast-growing
segments, while maintaining our position in the
slow-growing segments.
More than 300 new medical device
manufactures have started making PPE kits, masks,
Ventilators, Diagnostics kits making India self sufficient
for such products in a short time. India has a great base
of Engineering talent and we should leverage this with our
entrepreneurial spirit to not only make India self reliant
but a large exporter of Medical devices.
Govt. announced that the novel corona
virus outbreak had managed to teach us the importance of
local manufacturing, local market, and local supply chain.
Every Indian should become "vocal for their local."
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