'Disposable Medical Textiles-A Destiny for Investment in Technical Textiles in India'

Abstract

Disposable Medical Textile (DMT) is likely to grow rapidly in India in the near future. During the last ten years a lot of effort is in vogue for the development of technical textile (TT) in India. The DMT, in all probability, would emerge as one of the most prominent products among TT. The country is growing strong in medical tourism and this sector is predicted to observe next boom, after IT in India. Many hospitals with state-of-art facilities are being established across the country and these hospitals will focus on quality of service than the cost.

Disposable nonwovens in medical application are very popular in developed countries mainly because of prevention/control of cross infection, protection, comfortness, easy care and many times the lower cost. Such trend would find its place in India also. Hence for manufacturing DMT the international brands like Ahlstrom is setting up plant in India.

This paper will discuss the types of DMT, their advantages, scope, project viability, etc. which can be good guideline for those who intend to do business in this sector. The author has good experience in promoting TT industries in India.

Introduction

Textile has been in clinical application for thousands of years, may be as old as the usage of cloth itself. The woven fabrics dominated medical textiles until the end of last century. But with the progress of technology in nonwovens and their composites, they started dominating this field, especially in the disposable category of medical textiles. The disposables have gain ground due to several reasons.

During the 20^th century world was hit by three major types of influenza; the Spanish flu in 1918 that killed 20-40 million, the Asian flu in 1955 and Hong Kong flu in 1968, both caused 1-4 million deaths. The recent one making the rounds is the bird flu. The health care professionals are seriously concerned about exposure to, and transference of, various microorganisms that are carried through body fluids. The need for effective barrier in the operating room to reduce the risk of infection is unquestionable. In addition to this the patients are required to be protected from microorganisms carried by healthcare workers and patient-to-patient transfer or to sum-up Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI).

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The author Mr. B. S. Pancholi is Senior Scientific Officer in Man made Textiles Research Association, Surat, Gujarat.