Indonesia prompted to build up the medical devices sector

Indonesia has tussled amid deficiency in protective gear and hospital beds.

The country has been nudged to turn the novel coronavirus into an opportunity, and make strategies to build up its medical device sector amidst weaknesses in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, according to a report from GlobalData.

They recognised that a lack of sufficient medical infrastructure and reliability on other countries for healthcare supplies has made it difficult for Indonesia to handle the novel Coronavirus pandemic effectively.

“The COVID-19 crisis is a lesson to Indonesia and the government should now work towards encouraging domestic manufacturing of medical devices and foreign investments to expand its medical device sector,” said GlobalData’s medical devices analyst Pratibha Thammanabhatla.

On the basis of this, not only would the country be able to get ready for any medical emergencies, but also boost foreign investments, job opportunities, open up new markets and create competences, said Thammanabhatla.

The report praised the country’s attempt to contain the spread of the virus by abolishing price discrepancy through setting price limit for COVID-19 tests. The country focused to produce 70% of its medical supplies in the country.

A scarcity of medical staff, protective gear and hospital beds is propelling the country to use digital medical care as one of its weapons to fight the COVID-19, GlobalData noted. Consequently, the recognition of telehealth firms such as Alodokter, Halodoc and GrabHealth has been lifted.

This anticipated to become a new standard after the pandemic, further stimulating its flourishing health care market.

Ms Thammanabhatla concludes: “Indonesia should now think of shifting its spending priorities to healthcare, social protection and infrastructure, and turn this crisis into an opportunity. This would not only prepare the nation for any health emergencies such as COVID-19 but also increase foreign investments, and employment opportunities, open up new markets and create competences.”

Presently, the Ministry of Industry is synchronising with teams from four universities — the Jogja Team led by Gadjah Mada University, the University of Indonesia Team, the Bandung Institute of Technology Team, and the Surabaya Sepuluh November Institute of Technology Team — for the good volume of production of healthcare devices.

“The ventilators being developed by one of the universities are currently undergoing the stage of clinical trials and exploration with the industrial sector for mass production. We hope that in the near future, these ventilators can be produced immediately to meet domestic requirements,” Kartasasmita noted.