the Ministry of Health is discussing a ban on the purchase of imported ventilators

The ban on state purchases of foreign ventilators is being discussed in the expert community, the head of the Russian Ministry of Health, Mikhail Murashko, told Interfax. Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to abandon the purchase of imported devices.

Murashko stated that there is a ventilator production in Russia.

On June 28, Vedomosti, referring to the draft government resolution, reported that the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to introduce a ban on the purchase of foreign-made ventilators in state hospitals.

In the department, this initiative was explained by the fact that it is necessary to support domestic manufacturers of devices. The project specified that these manufacturers “can fully cover the needs of the health care system.”

In Russia, ventilators are produced by two main companies: JSC “KRET” (owned by the state corporation “Rostec”) and the company “Triton-electronics”. Together, they produce about 36 thousand devices per hour. The note of the Ministry of Industry and Trade states that the average annual demand for ventilators for state hospitals is 2,700 devices.

Sergey Dmytrochenko, general director of the Rostec competence center, told Vedomosti that there is a large share of foreign developers in the Russian ventilator market, the largest of which are German and Chinese. According to Evgeny Alekhin, director of the Regmedikal consulting firm, there are currently no problems with the supply of foreign ventilators in Russia. He added that there are enough norms in Russian laws to support the domestic producer.

The chairman of the State Duma committee on health protection, Tatiana Solomatina, said that the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will help hospitals to insure themselves against the shortage of foreign components and problems with the maintenance of devices. She believes that Russian equipment is not inferior to imported equipment in terms of quality.

Yevgeny Alekhin, director of the Regmedikal consulting firm, noted that during the pandemic, all “unwanted events” with ventilators occurred on Russian equipment. Alexander Vanyukov, a doctor who worked in a covid-19 hospital, told “Vedomosti” that the restrictions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade do not help either patients or doctors.

As “Interfax” clarifies, Iryna Kirkora, deputy head of the Council under the President of Russia for the development of civil society and human rights, warned that the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade could lead to risks for the lives of patients. “In no case should you arrange demonstration rejections of foreign technologies,” she emphasized. Kirkora added that “no one involved patient organizations” in the development of the draft resolution.

• During the coronavirus pandemic, fires occurred in several hospitals in the regions of Russia due to the ignition or explosion of ventilators. So, in St. Petersburg on May 12, 2020, a fire broke out in the “red zone” due to the ignition of a ventilator. Six people died. “Aventa-M” devices were produced at the Ural instrument-making plant, they were later withdrawn from production at the request of Roszdravnadzor.