Doctors and front health workers need Personal protective equipment at all cost right now all over the world who are screening, testing or treating people for the corona virus. WHO has said that the world needs about 89 Mn medical masks and 76 Mn gloves for Covid-19 response every month.
The personal protective equipment includes masks, goggles, gloves and face shields, which can be procured from sources like shopzal.com and both the doctors as well as manufacturers have mentioned that PPE supplies are going slow or lagging behind. They may soon face a shortage and that cannot be afforded as the doctors and nurses should not contact the virus. There is already a shortage of medical personnel to treat the infected. The existing doctors and medical professionals are our last hope to survive.
Manufacturers have clarified that it has become a challenge to produce and supply the gears due to the lockdown including restrictions on import and export. This delay in procurement of PPE has already irreversibly jeopardized the public health response to Covid-19 says Malini Aisola, co-convenor, All India Drug Action Network.
She said that some positive measures are being taken but still there is no concerted effort on the part of the government to address the PPE shortages. The procurement is being done solely by the the state run HLL Lifecare. The government’s sole procurement agency has floated a global tender for procuring PPE kits, that includes coveralls, goggles, N95 masks, gloves, face shields, triple- layer surgical masks, digital infrared thermometers and thermal scanners.
Dr U.S. Vishal Rao, chief of head and neck oncology at Bengaluru’s HCG Cancer Centre and member of the consultative group to principal scientific adviser, government of India has said that we need to ramp up supply of PPE on a war footing. There is a need to change them daily and regularly so the supply matters a lot.
