Ventilator Price In India Climbing, Stockpiling Overrules

Salena Harshini |Mar 31, 2020

The most important question is, Should one use a ventilator at home for treatment?

As coronavirus cases are increasing in the nation, an investigation has exposed a grim reality: the gouging of ventilator price in India and stockpiling. A ventilator is a device that pumps oxygen into the lungs when the patients can no longer breathe on their own. That is why coronavirus patients may need them to survive.

Ventilators
Ventilators have become among the most important equipments in the fight to treat coronavirus patients. (source: New York Times)

Ventilator price in India

Because the demand is extremely high, ventilators are not always available. If some find no problem in purchasing different brands, it will cost them more than the normal price. Ventilator price in India now ranges around six lakh rupees, twice as much as the regular.

Currently, it has been found that well-off housing societies and officials are piling up portable ventilators, just in case. The vendors revealed that they could have collectively 6,000 ventilators but the number decreased to 11-12 in no time. Each high-ranking individual is ready to buy three ventilators at a time with premium price while apartments in a housing society could stockpile from 10-12 ones. Old and used ventilators now can cost from 60,000-85,000 rupees each.

Ventilator
Rough estimates show there are currently 40,000 available ventilators in India

This month, the government has prohibited ICU medical devices exports, including sanitizers and ventilators to control the shortages. A distributor share that companies working in ventilators sale and manufacturing have been told to limit the supplies to the government only.

New ventilators with more reasonable price

While the price of ventilators are hiking, an MIT group has introduced the low-cost version that they are working on. The volunteer team assembles computer scientists, physicians, engineers and others working together to create an inexpensive, safe alternative dedicated to emergency use. The MIT E-Vent team (for emergency ventilator) was established in March 12 to deal with the spread of Covid-19.

Mit Ventilator
MIT volunteer team are working on more reasonable ventilators to help control the shortage

The main key to a reasonable ventilator elective is a hand-worked plastic pouch named an Ambu bag, a sack-valve resuscitator, that has been available in huge amounts at hospitals and clinics. These are intended to be worked by hand, by an emergency technician or medical professional, to give breaths to a patient in circumstances like heart failure, until an intercession like a ventilator is within reach.

A tube is placed into the patient's aviation route, likewise with a clinic ventilator, however then the siphoning of air into the lungs is carried out by squeezing and discharging the pliable pouch. This is an errand for the trained workforce, experted in how to assess the patient and modify the planning and weight of the pumping as needs be.

Mit
MIT team are still trying their best to make the device available and to be used worldwide

The volunteer team is working hard without funding and with anonymity now as many of them have been overwhelmed with questions from people who want more details. They are also anxious about getting swamped in calls which would disturb their project work.

This invention is somewhat hoped to help the climbing of ventilator price in India.

Should one buy ventilators for home treatment?

If you are wondering whether you should purchase a ventilator and use it at home just in case, the answer is No.

For the unversed, to have a patient connected to a ventilator is not just simply putting it down in the throat. The patients must be put to sleep with pain-relieving and sedating medications when the breathing tube is placed through the vocal cord and down the throat.

Ventilator Covid
Ventilators are not advised to use at home

What is emphasized by researchers and every professional medical staff is this device is not some typical do-it-yourself thing to carry out. The process requires specialized knowledge of the clinical-technical connection, and the capability to work in consideration of strict guidelines and specifications.

Covid-19 in india

0 Cases
0 Deaths
0 Recovered
0 Cases
0 Deaths
0 Recovered
  • State
  • Cases
  • Deaths
  • Recovered
  • Country
  • Cases
  • Deaths
  • Recovered

Comments

Sort by Newest | Popular

Next Story