The worst impact of COVID-19 has probably been on the availability of PPE which has led to its shortage making the needy ones suffer the most. PPE or the Personal Protective Equipment, as the name suggests, are the sophisticated sets of protective gears including the masks, gloves, goggles, suits, visors, head cap and others which are intended to provide safety from any extrinsic hazards. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, only the working fields with potential hazards such as the factories, manufacturing units, healthcare etc. were the primary end users of these equipment. But with the advent of the virus, everything is seen as unsafe! And to mentally ensure that ‘safety’, everyone is so after these PPE that it has created an unusual dearth of the same. Clearly making it worse for the end users who need it the most.
Now, as the coronavirus continues to claim lives across the globe, here is a very important piece of advice we all need to clasp that – not everyone of us need it! The World Health Organization says- if you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask in case you are taking care of a person with COVID-19. Adding more to this, only if people sneeze or cough should be the ones to wear it. The most important thing, the effectiveness of the masks can only be seen if combined with frequent handwashing. This has been the case of one of the mostly worn PPE, and the advice follows almost similar to others as well.
Despite the fact that the virus is still around us, the governments are gradually relieving the lockdown protocols as a baby step to resuming their respective economies. This all done with a strict adherence to the safety guidelines and the synchronized practice of social distancing. Working in such scenarios meticulously demand wearing of PPE kits to maintain a safe working environment for the workers.
However, this bulk demand has impacted the healthcare industry value chain resulting in short-term as well as some immensely transformative changes. Some examples of these are below :
• Major PPE players are ramping up local production to try and meet the growing demand
• Export controls on masks, goggles, gloves and other PPE brought about by several Asian countries, particularly China are gradually easing but the demand is overwhelming, and capacities are falling short
• Government agencies relaxing controls to ease supply challenges
• Strategic stockpile of critical PPE supplies will grow multifold to address any such eventualities in the future, ensuring steady demand in the next 18-24 months
• Distribution strategies for the healthcare industry may witness changes
• Growth of industrial PPE companies catering to healthcare PPE and vice versa
• Substantial growth in indigenous manufacturing capacities to reduce dependence on imports
