In order to curb serious pollution in the area, the national regulatory agency forced a shutdown
Mumbai: India’s largest manufacturer of syringes and needles has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke the suspension of production as part of a wider factory shutdown implemented by national regulators to curb severe pollution in the region.
The Hindustan Syringe and Medical Device Company (HMD) has closed its factory in the suburbs of New Delhi in accordance with the instructions of the National Pollution Control Board, which has raised concerns about the serious shortage of syringes and needles in India, right in its COVID-19 vaccination plan It is in full swing as it is being implemented.
“The closure of the needle and syringe manufacturing plant will cause a disruption in the supply chain,” Rajiv Nath, managing director of HMD, said in a letter to Modi’s office, which has been released to the media.
Nath said: "This may affect health care services across the country, especially the COVID-19 vaccination program, leading to severe shortages and other related problems," he added, adding that the authorities must allow factories to operate in accordance with the National Disaster Management Act.
The Haryana Pollution Control Commission issued the directive to more than 228 factories in the region as part of its efforts to combat pollution and improve air quality.
HMD provides more than 60% of the needles and syringes needed for treatment, health care and immunization in India, and the company said it will take appropriate measures to ensure that its factories do not contaminate the area.
"We assure the government that we will not use our diesel generator sets and equip our factories with renewable energy," Nath said, adding that the supply of injectors in India and the global market is already in short supply.
"In this place, HMD produces 150,000 needles and 8 million syringes a day. This has stopped. Since we cannot provide needles in buffer stocks for more than two days from Monday, other factories supplied by the parent company will be closed. Ten thousand syringes will not be available," Nath said.
According to Nath, most of HMD's plants operate on environmentally friendly pipeline natural gas (PNG).
"We have self-generated power generation based on PNG. We do have spare diesel generator sets, but they are rarely used because we have PNG which is cheaper and pollution-free. We are not a polluting industry. One of our factories has just received the green building gold certification. To meet sustainable development standards," he said.
Rajiv Nath, coordinator of the Indian Medical Device Industry Association Forum, expressed his concerns in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging that syringe manufacturing facilities should be operated in accordance with the National Disaster Management Act in order to avoid the Health care and a much-needed COVID-19 vaccination plan.
In a letter to Arvind Kumar Nautyal, secretary of the NCR Air Quality Management Committee, Nath informed that the company is manufacturing critical COVID-19 medical equipment, namely syringes for COVID-19 vaccination, and is cooperating with PNG to develop business . Since 2011, it is 4.3 MW.
Nath asked Arvind Kumar to withdraw the order or make an exception, considering the critical nature of COVID-19 vaccination business in India and globally, in order to avoid any major national medical crisis, and pointed out that more than 2/3 of the country depends on HMD superior.
"Other countries are also counting on India to support a global immunization/vaccination program that mainly targets children," he wrote in the letter.
"India and the world are in short supply of syringes, and the government has imposed export restrictions. Our expectation is that as the demand peak after Diwali subsides, export restrictions will be lifted at the end of December, but such orders will make the situation worse. "He pointed out.
"We absolutely understand and understand the government’s concerns, and we fully support the anti-pollution campaign. We assure the government that we will not use our diesel generator sets and equip our factories with renewable energy sources such as PNG, solar and direct power supply. Feeder. We work with the government at every step to help combat pollution levels and encourage the sustainability of our daily lives," Nath added.
Nath called on the government to propose ways to avoid possible crises. He said: “On behalf of Indian syringe manufacturers and other critical care medical device manufacturers, I call on the government to modify the applicability of the order to help us save the syringe manufacturing plants and other critical illnesses. With the closure of the intensive care unit, the country will face a greater medical crisis."
The air quality in the Indian capital and surrounding areas remains poor, forcing the government to take emergency measures.
As the government has strengthened various dust control measures, such as the use of fire trucks to spray water, schools and universities have also been ordered to close.
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