India is noticing a paradigm shift in the way patients are treated here. Providing healthcare access and author policies have impacted the country. Any decision made by India will be affecting the global societies of tomorrow and hence there has been a need of this paradigm shift. India is the 2nd most populated country in the world, but spends the lowest healthcare spend.
Critical issues like accessible health- ramped up testing, provision of hospital beds and quarantine centres and the provision of covid-19 treatment centres with oxygen-equipped beds all of these services provided today due to this pandemic are equipped due to import. 75% of these are imported.
India’s reliance on the world for medical equipment’s is nothing new, but as in today’s time “Make in India” is promoted, it is highly doubtful that the domestic production matches to the quality of imported/ foreign goods. Many domestic services are now being questioned if quality is more important or safety. The dependence has increased on global products amid this pandemic.
From poor quality ventilators to N95 masks, our fight to become self-reliant has taken many hits in the last few months. N95 masks are a classic example. The N95 respirator should ideally filter 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. Investigations have revealed that many of these poor-quality masks filter only 60-80% of 0.3-micron particles.
Recently, the government removed N95 masks from its ‘essential commodities’ list. This will now propel the entry of fakes and spuriously certified options at much cheaper prices into the market. We are taking another risk in the name of affordability like we did in the case of ventilators.
As India is the 3rd most affected nation by this pandemic, the country has many battles to fight on the domestic front. Although India has strengthened its own domestic markets, it is necessary that it shall meet international standards too. Ever since globalization, India has been helped by various global partnership and alliances, and the support from various countries have also helped in this pandemic, helping India expand and maintain global relations.
NEWS REPORTED BY:
VRIDHI BHAGNARI.
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