AHMEDABAD: The state government, which has so far installed about 8,200 ventilators in government hospitals, is planning to add over 4,500 more for the possible third wave of Covid-19.
Gujarat Medical Service Corporation Ltd (GMSCL) which is the central purchase authority for procurement of medical devices for government hospitals in Gujarat has recently floated tender for 500 ventilators.
“There are about 8,170 ventilators installed by the state government after the Covid-19 pandemic forced a nationwide lockdown in March last year. The government has so far cleared plans to procure 4,500 additional ventilators and these numbers are expected to increase in coming days,” said a senior state government official in the know of the matter.
Companies like BEL-Skanray, Max Ventilators and Schiller Healthcare India Pvt Ltd are expected to participate in the bids floated by GMSCL for ventilators, said sources.
The 55% addition in the installed capacity that the state is expected to see in next few months does not include ventilators to be procured at a rate contract, he added. A rate contract is essentially related to a fixed rate. Within the period of currency of the contract, the manufacturer has to supply material at a fixed rate, irrespective of quantity.
The state government recently held a pre-bid meeting with ventilator manufacturers for the third wave.
“The demand for ventilators has nearly doubled in the second wave as compared to the peak demand in the first wave. The country was facing a shortage of about 50,000-60,000 ventilators representing roughly 50% of the country’s total requirement in May when the country reported the highest daily cases of Covid-19 infected persons,” said an industry expert.
The third wave is expected to hit in the month of September and October according to some researchers and healthcare experts.
Some experts claim that the third wave is likely to affect children more. While there has been some recent study to show that this may not be the case, the Gujarat government does not want to leave anything to chance, it seems. GMSCL recently ordered 39 paediatric ventilators from Schiller Healthcare India Pvt Ltd and plans to acquire more going further.
“Many ventilator makers have an in-built facility in their ventilators so that it can be used both for adults and children,” a government source said.
During the first wave, 18,000 ventilators were installed in ICUs at hospitals across the country. About 90% of them were imported. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, many Indian companies began producing ventilators and they added some 40,000 ventilators in the first few months, according to industry sources.
The reason behind the change in demand-supply scenario between November and May was that the strain of virus in the second wave had a greater percentage of patients who required ICU care, sources said.
