Automakers Playing the Role of ''Medical Saviors''

As the country grapples with a mounting number of cases from COVID19, the car factories have been asked by The Health Ministry to resort to emergency production of ventilators to treat the severely affected patients.

SWITCHING FROM CARS TO VENTILATORS IS NOT EASY:

The materials and the components needed to build a ventilator are "highly specific" and require "specialized know-how". Ventilators are complex machines that use sophisticated software and specialized parts, and companies that seek to manufacture them face several hurdles -- including intellectual property rights, the need for specially trained workers, regulatory approvals and safety considerations. If one of the components does not work correctly, the whole machine shuts down and cannot be used anymore."

OVERSEAS:

Automakers have announced they've been teaming up with existing ventilator makers to help them ramp up production. American auto manufacturers General Motors ,Ford and Tesla, Japanese carmaker Nissan, French car companies PSA and Renault, and Formula 1 engineers have joined the ranks in response to a massive global shortage of the vital medical equipment

INDIA:

India's auto majors -Mahindra Group, Maruti, Hyundai and Tata Motors partnering with governments have joined other global automobile giants and biotech ventilator manufacturers in helping to increase the production of ventilators. They include New Delhi-based AgVa Healthcare, Ahmedabad -based LifeLine Biz, Chennai-headquartered Trivitron Healthcare and Air Liquid Medical Systems, and Mumbai-headquartered Narang Healthcare and AVI Healthcare.

According to Mahindra Group. a good-quality ventilator can cost about $100

According to the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD), ventilator makers need the financial muscle and assembly-line capacity of auto companies to increase production rapidly

The number of ventilators needed worldwide is unclear, with confusion over the true nature of this disease running rampant, as a parallel pandemic.

But it's a race against time

~ By Nikita Baid