'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 20th 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).
Read
Full Article
The
author Mr. B. S. Pancholi is Senior Scientific Officer in Man made Textiles
Research Association, Surat, Gujarat.
