<p>Faced with a critical shortage of ventilators, the central government has reversed one of its old decisions to allow the import of second-hand ventilators to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, sweeping the country.</p>.<p>Earlier this month, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest permitted the import of used ventilators by hospitals till September 30.</p>.<p>India currently has an estimated 60,000-80,000 ventilators, but only a small fraction of them are available for COVID-19 patients who require ventilation.</p>.<p>The lockdown period gives much needed time to the state administration and hospitals to ramp up their infrastructure such as additional beds and ventilators to battle the pandemic.</p>.<p>But a 2015 MoEF order under the Hazardous Waste Rules, 2008 turns out to be a hurdle as it prevents import on medical equipment and other such electronic and electric equipment that are more than three years old.</p>.<p>The ministry has now reversed its policy after receiving several requests to relax the import rules to facilitate the clearance of used ventilators. The changed rules would also be extended to the used ventilators lying at ports awaiting customs approval. </p>.<p>The decision would benefit a consignment of 200 second-hand ventilators lying at the Chennai port. A Chennai-based company imported them from the USA in 2018 but didn’t receive the customs clearance. The company also could not send them back as the Centre stopped the export of ventilators following the COVID-19 crisis.</p>.<p>An association of domestic manufacturers of medical devices has flagged concerns on the post-purchase servicing of such life-saving instruments.</p>.<p>“The government should not permit the free import of second-hand ventilators without assuring warranty and delivery of services and spares for the next seven years as well as a list of their service staff posted in India with telephone numbers,” said Rajiv Nath, forum coordinators, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry.</p>.<p>A public health specialist aired similar apprehension. “The question that arises around second-hand ventilators is who would service them. Second-hand ventilators may just add to the total tally of increasing capacity but if they need to wait for spare parts from the overseas due to any unforeseen breakdown, they would cause more harm than good,” Oommen John, a senior public health researcher from the George Institute for Global Health, India told DH.</p>
<p>Faced with a critical shortage of ventilators, the central government has reversed one of its old decisions to allow the import of second-hand ventilators to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, sweeping the country.</p>.<p>Earlier this month, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest permitted the import of used ventilators by hospitals till September 30.</p>.<p>India currently has an estimated 60,000-80,000 ventilators, but only a small fraction of them are available for COVID-19 patients who require ventilation.</p>.<p>The lockdown period gives much needed time to the state administration and hospitals to ramp up their infrastructure such as additional beds and ventilators to battle the pandemic.</p>.<p>But a 2015 MoEF order under the Hazardous Waste Rules, 2008 turns out to be a hurdle as it prevents import on medical equipment and other such electronic and electric equipment that are more than three years old.</p>.<p>The ministry has now reversed its policy after receiving several requests to relax the import rules to facilitate the clearance of used ventilators. The changed rules would also be extended to the used ventilators lying at ports awaiting customs approval. </p>.<p>The decision would benefit a consignment of 200 second-hand ventilators lying at the Chennai port. A Chennai-based company imported them from the USA in 2018 but didn’t receive the customs clearance. The company also could not send them back as the Centre stopped the export of ventilators following the COVID-19 crisis.</p>.<p>An association of domestic manufacturers of medical devices has flagged concerns on the post-purchase servicing of such life-saving instruments.</p>.<p>“The government should not permit the free import of second-hand ventilators without assuring warranty and delivery of services and spares for the next seven years as well as a list of their service staff posted in India with telephone numbers,” said Rajiv Nath, forum coordinators, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry.</p>.<p>A public health specialist aired similar apprehension. “The question that arises around second-hand ventilators is who would service them. Second-hand ventilators may just add to the total tally of increasing capacity but if they need to wait for spare parts from the overseas due to any unforeseen breakdown, they would cause more harm than good,” Oommen John, a senior public health researcher from the George Institute for Global Health, India told DH.</p>
