PM Cares Fund Helped To Triple The Ventilators Availability In India’s Public Hospitals Since Covid-19 Pandemic

In a major fillip for the nation’s healthcare capabilities and infrastructure, ventilators supplied to the States and the Union Territories (UTs) through the PM Cares fund and by the Union Ministry of Health has more than tripled the availability of ventilators in public hospitals in the country, reports Times of India.

While the count of ventilators in the county’s public hospitals stood around 16,000 units before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 43,800 new ventilators have been supplied to the States and the UTs since the onset of the pandemic last year when PM Cares fund was set up.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the total count of ventilators across public and private hospitals in the country before the COVID-19 pandemic stood at about 47,500 as per non-Government estimates.

Also, prior to the pandemic, the availability of ventilators was limited even in big States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka which had about 5,800, 7,000 and 6,600 ventilators respectively.

The government has also urged states to fully utilise the ventilators after it came to light that the machines were not being fully utilised in several states. PM Modi yesterday called for an immediate audit of the installation and operations of the ventilators provided to the States and Union Territories (UTs) by the Centre.

He also said that refresher training should be provided to the healthcare workers for properly operating the ventilators to ensure that glitches are resolved without any delay. He also directed that power supply be ensured for the smooth operation of such medical devices.