Covid-19: Sale of medical equipment takes a hit amid rising prices, supply shortage

Wholesale medical dealers are witnessing a sudden dip in the sale of Covid care devices like pulse oximeters, oxygen cylinders and concentrators, inhalers, etc., in the last 10-15 days. Both supply shortage and rising prices were blamed for this dip.

“The price of Covid devices rose tenfold recently. This has certainly infused a sense of resistance amongst the middle class. Many can’t afford to buy oxygen cylinders worth Rs 20,000 – Rs 30,000. Spending so much doesn’t even guarantee your patient’s life. How many cylinders will people buy?,” Manish Sharma, a wholesale medical dealer in Lucknow told Money9.

Another dealer from Delhi said the sale of medical equipment saw a 25% dip in May.

“Either most of them have already bought Covid kits or they have given up considering the shortage and cost,” Rajat Kumar, a dealer supplying medicines across Delhi-NCR said.

An oxygen cylinder would normally cost you Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000. However, it is currently being sold for as much as Rs 45,000 due to the pandemic and limited supply.

Initially, people bought many oxygen cylinders and concentrators as a precautionary measure and stored them at home. “But once people bought and stored these products at home, they realized these types of equipment required expert supervision to function. Oxygen concentrators require a regulator that has an oxygen pressure meter attached to it to be able to function. It also required a medicated mask that is attached to the concentrator. You cannot operate it at home,” Sharma explained.

The situation is similar in Mumbai where the shortage in supply of these products caused a dip in sales.

“The sale of Covid care devices has reduced in May. Usually, whenever the cases begin to rise, customers start buying pulse oximeters and oxygen cylinders out of fear. But there is no supply of products since last 10-15 days. We’re hoping to get oxygen cylinders back in stock in a few days,” Rohit, a wholesale dealer of Pioneer Healthcare in Mumbai said.

The price of an oximeter is around Rs 1,500 – Rs 2,000 depending on the company while oxygen cylinders are costing approximately Rs 74,000, added Rohit.

No supply of oxygen cylinders and other devices in the last 10-15 days has also caused a dip in the sale, he added.

Meanwhile, retailers in Kolkata confirmed the demand had slipped around 20% in May.

“The demand for this equipment was high during the last half of April but now the demand is slowing down,” said Sudipta Saha, a shop owner near KPC medical College in Jadavpur of south Kolkata.

Shops near Calcutta Medical College in north Kolkata also witnessed the same trend.

“The demand for oximeters has come down by 10%-15%. In January we generally sold 1-2 concentrators and 4-5 oximeters per day. But in the second half of April, this figure went up to 10 and 25 per day respectively. But now it has slipped to 6-7 for concentrators and 18-20 for oximeters,” said Udayan Dutta, a pharmacy owner near Calcutta Medical College, India’s oldest medical college is located.

Retailers said the reason for the dip is that most of the families now have an oximeter at home. It can be shared with family members and even neighbours.

The price range for oximeter varies from Rs 1,700/- to Rs 2,200/- depending upon the brand, said Sudipta. On the other hand oxygen concentrators are available in 3 LPM, 5 LPM, 8 LPM, and 10 LPM units.

While a 5 LPM unit costs something between Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, a 10 LPM unit costs around Rs 1.5 lakh.

Dutta confirmed that these prices went up by 30% or even 50% in mid-April. But in May, the price again came down to normal levels, though there are supply shortfalls. He hoped that the situation might come back to normal within a week and 10 days.