- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S biggest syringe and needle maker has urged prime minister Narendra Modi to scrap an order made to suspend production, part of a broader factory closure instructed by a state regulator to curb heavy pollution, Reuters reported.
Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices (HMD) has shut its factories on the outskirts of New Delhi after the state pollution control board issued a directive, triggering concerns of a serious shortage of syringes and needles in India even as Covid-19 vaccination programmes has peaked.
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“The closure of needles and syringes manufacturing factories will create disruption in the supply chain,” Rajiv Nath, managing director of HMD, said in a letter to Modi’s office which was released to the media.
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“This may impact healthcare delivery across the country in general and the COVID-19 vaccination programme in particular, resulting in major shortage and other related issues,” Nath said, adding that authorities must allow factories to operate under the National Disaster Management Act.
The directive was issued to more than 228 factories in the region by the pollution control board of the northern Indian state of Haryana to combat pollution and improve air quality.
HMD, which supplies more than 60 per cent of the needles and syringes for curative healthcare and immunisation in the country, said it will take adequate measures to ensure its factories are not causing pollution in the region.
“We assure the government that we will not use our diesel generator sets and have fully equipped our plants with renewable energy sources,” Nath said, adding that syringe supplies were already facing shortage in the Indian and global markets.
The poor air quality in India’s capital and its surrounding region has forced the government to take emergency measures and they include shutting down of schools and colleges.
