The onslaught of coronavirus disease has sent ripples across the globe. Modern humans are probably witnessing something so ubiquitous and all-encompassing for the first time. And during this crisis, the healthcare industry is the world’s only hope.
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In mid-November last year, a new virus slowly crept its way into the human threshold. No one knew at that time, that within only 4–5 months this novel coronavirus would bring the entire planet to its metaphorical knees. Alongside East Asian nations like South Korea and Japan, the much revered Europe and USA also became significant victims of this mutated virus strain.
1. A brief overview of the global healthcare situation
To date, economies and countries with the most developed healthcare systems are struggling to combat this pandemic effectively. A total of 179 countries and regions have been affected by Covid-19 as on 31st March. Of this Italy, Spain, USA, and Germany are currently demonstrating the worst conditions with the highest number of active cases.
The tallies of active cases in USA, Italy, Spain, and Germany are approximately 157k, 76k, 67k, and 60k respectively. And it is no rocket science to infer from these numbers that the healthcare systems of these countries are staring at the face of a behemoth crisis.
In New York, the epicentre of coronavirus in the USA, hospitals are struggling to keep pace with the brisk rise of cases. As of 31st March, more than 75000 confirmed cases have been recorded in that state.
2. What does the pandemic mean for Indian healthcare system?
It is no secret that India is infamous for the horrid conditions of its public healthcare system. The majority of central and state-run healthcare facilities are ill-equipped and inadequately staffed. Additionally, health workers at the frontline of combating Covid-19 in public healthcare centres do not have the necessary equipment to safeguard their own health.
Therefore, if India is going to witness a full-blown outbreak like reported in those aforementioned nations, then its creaky public healthcare system might tumble down with the pandemic’s weight.
In such, India’s private healthcare facilities arrive as a beacon of hope. These healthcare bodies are sufficiently staffed and house state-of-the-art equipment. Realising the glaring fault in public healthcare units, the Government of India has been appealing to private institutions to join in on the testing and treatment for coronavirus.
However, a crisis faced by the entire industry — public and private — is the dearth of necessary equipment like ventilators. Health experts are estimating critical cases to sharply rise in the coming months and a lack of such necessary equipment is a serious cause of concern.
Nevertheless, inadequacy of the public healthcare system is not depictingthe tremendous amount of work that the staffs have put in since the outbreak of Covid-19 in India. Currently, more than 1750 cases have been reported in India, and numerous more are kept in isolation wards awaiting diagnosis. And to deal with a steadily growing influx of patients every day with insufficient and inadequate equipment is a task that well deserves commend.
3. Response of Indian hospital industry and government
India is currently in Stage 2 of the outbreak, and the Indian government in collaboration with state governments are fighting tooth and nail to prevent it from reaching stage 3.
Wondering, what it means to be in Stage 2?
There are primarily 4 classified stages of Covid-19 outbreak.
Stage 1
Only individuals with an international travel history in the recent past diagnose positive for coronavirus.
Stage 2
In this stage of transmission, people diagnosed with Covid-19 have come in contact with someone with an international travel history alongside international travellers themselves. Sources of infection can be traced and isolated easily in this stage. India is currently in stage 2.
Stage 3
Sources of infection in this stage of transmission cannot be identified. Therefore, this stage is characterised with patients who have had no travel history and did not come in contact with anyone who has travelled recently. This situation implies local transmission, where small clusters of infection are reported from across the country.
Currently, the USA, Italy, Spain, and Germany are some of the nations in Stage 3.
Stage 4
Stage 4 is declared when the spread of the disease becomes uncontainable and is marked by rapid transmission. So far, only China has gone through this stage.
Therefore, given the current situation, India is at a better stage than many countries. But, it is difficult to tell how long that will be the case. It all relies on a collaborative effort of the Indian healthcare system and government to ensure that the virus is contained through proper measures.
· Assistance from private hospitals
Very recently, Apollo Hospitals became one of the first private hospital chains to announce a comprehensive response plan towards combating Covid-19. It christened the response plan as “Project Kavach”, Kavach meaning shield. This comprehensive approach involves creating awareness, disseminating valuable information, testing for coronavirus, setting up isolation wards, and hoarding essential equipment for supportive care to patients.
Alongside Project Kavach, it also announced a novel initiative named “Project Stay I”. Under this project, Apollo would set up medical rooms in hotels and hostels for quarantine purposes. These rooms would be under medical supervision and would act as barriers before patients are admitted to hospitals if needed.
This initiative by Apollo might be effective in addressing the rising number of cases in India, which is slowly outpacing the number of beds in isolation wards. These rooms would be created in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore. Initially, there will be 50 rooms per city with additions of 50 rooms per 3 days to reach a 5000-target.
Besides Apollo, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi has also set aside beds, both in general wards and ICU, to treat patients of Covid-19.
· The State Government initiatives
Recently, the Assam government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 85 private hospitals in the state. According to this MoU, these hospitals will absorb the “load of other patients” while the state-run healthcare facilities concentrate on Covid-19 cases. As of 1st April, there has not been a single confirmed case in Assam.
Following suit, the Rajasthan government also reserved 84 private hospitals across the state under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases Act 1957.The enforcement of these acts implies that those private hospitals would have to give up their buildings to the Sub-divisional Officer or Chief Medical & Health officer within 2 hours of order. As of 1st April, Rajasthan has reported a total of 74 cases of Covid-19.
On 20th March, the West Bengal government also roped in private hospitals to cooperate in the testing and treatment of Covid-19 patients keeping in perspective the crucial times to come. Till then, the majority of cases had been handled by state-run Beliaghta Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital. As of 1st April, the state’s tally is 28 cases and 4 fatalities due to the coronavirus disease.
4. Indian healthcare industry’s response to Covid-19
Healthcare is one industry in every nation that will never demonstrate any recession despite how tumultuous the economic condition is otherwise.
This healthcare industry has become one of the most prominent sectors in India, both in terms of employment creation and revenue generation. By the end of 2022, the market is expected to reach a valuation of $372 billion.
This industry further comprises several sectors — hospital, diagnostics, medical devices, telemedicine, medical tourism, healthcare information technology, and health insurance. The hospital sector in India holds the largest share (80%) in the healthcare industry, and as per estimations, it might reach a market valuation of $132 billion by 2023.
In this scenario also, the hospital sector is at the frontline of combating the coronavirus disease. However, other sectors are making a considerable jump as well in this situation of a health emergency, to the point where they are choking up on demands. The most notable sector to witness such growth is the medical devices and equipment sector.
· The ventilator crisis
According to estimations by Princeton University, John Hopkins University, and Centre for Disease Dynamics, among others, demand for ventilators will skyrocket to 1 million by July if the number of cases follows the current growth trend. As of now, India only has availability of 30k — 50k ventilators.
So, either the sector would emerge victorious from the situation or fall face flat in the pursuit to meet demands.
Most health experts are concerned the latter would happen and is hoping the epidemic situation does not hold for so long.
Nonetheless, the question remains, “Who will make these many ventilators?”
Be as it may, India only produces 10% of the ventilators used here, whereas the rest 90% is imported. Given the global condition surrounding the pandemic, it is nigh impossible to import that many ventilators. On the other hand, India has previously exported ventilators in large numbers to profoundly affected nations, causing an acute shortage now.
Therefore, this is both an opportunity and a colossus challenge for local manufacturers to scale up their production and meet the local demand. And many local companies have indeed come forward to address this lapse in supply. For instance, Skanray Technologies is aiming to produce more than 100,000 ventilators.
Other companies like Bharat Electronics Ltd and HLL Lifecare are set to produce 30k and 20k ventilators, respectively. Even automobile giant Maruti Suzuki has collaborated with AgVa Healthcare to ramp up the latter’s ventilator production to 10,000/month.
However, manufacturers find themselves in another quandary here — components required for the production of ventilators are also imported from countries like France, Germany, USA and China. Therefore, the aforementioned companies would either have to design a new model of ventilators that can be manufactured with local items or give up on their ambitions.
Skanray, for instance, is working in cahoots with BEL and Mahindra & Mahindra to come up with a simpler design that they can make with local components and also something that would be time-effective.
· Paucity of consumables
Ever since the coronavirus outbreak began in India, consumers have been scrambling to hoard consumables lest they might be the only ones left with inadequate supplies. Paradoxically, this has created a shortage in the market so acute that numerous consumers now have to make do with inadequate supplies. Where on the one hand Americans stocked up on toilet papers, on the other, Indians decided to stock up on hand sanitizers. In fact, demand for hand sanitizers went up by 400% since the coronavirus scare gripped Indians.
Nonetheless, companies like Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) and Godrej have come forward to address this crisis.
Hindustan Unilever is all set to slash prices for soaps, sanitizers, and floor disinfectants by 15% and simultaneously it will ramp up its production manifold to meet the growing demand in the market.
Godrej, on the other hand, will shelve its plan to increase prices of its consumables due to incremental cost of raw materials and instead dole out products in their existing prices. It is also all set to expedite its production.
HUL has also announced an Rs.100 Crore plan towards combating the coronavirus outbreak in India. Under this plan, it will distribute 2 Crore soaps to deprived sections. Moreover, it has also teamed up with healthcare facilities to provide free sanitisation products like soaps, floor disinfectants, and hand sanitizers.
At this juncture, it is impossible to state whether India’s healthcare system would be enough to sustain this pandemic. All that can be said is, the Indian government acted late regarding preparation, and now India is amid a major crisis. But, the resilience of India’s health workers and the activeness of Indian and state governments along with help from other sectors of the healthcare industry is undoubtedly a positive precedent to the crisis.
