India May Need 27 Million N95 Masks, 15 Million PPEs By June

India May Need 27 Million N95 Masks, 15 Million PPEs By June

Medics wearing protective suits are seen inside an isolation ward, set up in view of coronavirus pandemic, at Government General Hospital in Vijayawada, Sunday, March 15, 2020

The central government has estimated that India would need around 27 million N95 masks, 15 million PPEs, 1.6 million diagnostic test kits and 50,000 ventilators by June 2020, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The requirement was discussed with industry representatives in a meeting of the empowered group of officials on ‘coordinating with private sector, NGOs and international organisations’ on 3 April. It was headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and also attended by FICCI representatives.

The report mentions sources who quoted an official as saying, “The demand of ventilators has been estimated to be 50,000 by June 2020. Out of these, 16,000 are already available and orders have been placed for 34,000 ventilators. To facilitate procurement of ventilators and other PPEs from abroad, MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has been taken on board.”

The ‘empowered group’ has six members apart from Kant, Principal Scientific Advisor Dr Vijayaraghavan, NDMA member Kamal Kishore, CBIC member Sandeep Mohan Bhatnagar, Additional Secretary (Home) Anil Malik, Joint Secretary in PMO Gopal Baglay, and Deputy Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Tina Soni.

The requirement for medical equipment is crucial information for the industry to plan, invest and do the needful in order to make arrangements.

Acknowledging this need, the government has already partially or completely prohibited the export various equipment such as ventilators, breathing devices, sanitisers, surgical masks, PPEs and coveralls.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)