Syringe factories' closure to trigger shortage, warns top manufacturer

The closure of needle and syringe manufacturing facilities in Haryana’s Faridabad, to curb air pollution in neighbouring NCR region, will trigger a shortage and impact the country’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, warned a top official of a leading Indian manufacturer of syringes and medical devices.

According to media reports, Rajiv Nath, the managing director of Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices (HMD), wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revoke the order of the Haryana state pollution control board, which had shut down all the factories on the outskirts of New Delhi. This letter was released to the media.

Nath, who is also the Forum Coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Devices, suggested to PM Modi that syringe manufacturing facilities should operate under the National Disaster Management Act. Further, he said that closing down these factories may lead to a major shortage and impact healthcare delivery across the country in general and the COVID-19 vaccination programme in particular.

According to Nath, his company daily produces 1.5 crore needles and 80 lakh syringes. “This has come to a halt now. As we can’t feed needles beyond two days buffer stock from Monday (December 13), other factories fed by the mother unit will be shut and daily 1.2 crore syringes will not be available nationally,” he said, reported Business Standard.

Also, he pointed out that syringes are already running short in India and globally.

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Nath said his company contributes over 66 per cent of India’s syringes supplies for curative healthcare and immunisation. And warned that disruption in the supply chain would result in shortage and other related issues like price increases.

The Haryana Pollution Control Board had issued the order to close down 228 factories in the region as part of its drive to improve air quality in the region. Nath however assured in his letter that the factories will take adequate measures not to pollute the region. Adding that they also give an assurance not to use diesel generator sets and have already fully equipped their plants with renewable energy sources.

Most of the company’s gensets are powered by environmentally friendly piped natural gas, he said, adding that only small plants of HMD are connected to diesel gensets.

Delhi city has been grappling with poor air quality, as official government data showed that the capital recorded its worst November air in the last six years, with not even one “good” day of air quality through the month. The situation was so critical that schools were shut and the Supreme Court had to intervene with a stern warning.