International Copper Association is aggressively pitching for the use of anti-microbial copper in the healthcare sector. Anti-microbial copper, with its ability to reduce hospital acquired infections, are being touted as the best choice for touch surfaces in the hospitals, namely bed railings, chair and door handles, IV stands etc. Andy Roth, Director – Global Public Health Initiative (PHI), New York and Louis Koh, Regional Programme Manager (PHI) Asia, Singapore discuss the current market for anti-microbial copper in India, strategies for paving the way for its wide usage and the challenges they are encountering in their path with Lakshmipriya Nair
What is the current market for anti-microbial copper in India?
| Andy Roth |
The market for antimicrobial copper in India is in its nascent stage and we are in the process of creating awareness and building the same through various important stake- holders like the government, private and public hospitals, various medical associations, hospital architects, consultants and PMCs to name a few. The response received has been encouraging.
How has anti-microbial copper been adopted in the healthcare sector globally? How well has it fared?
| Louis Koh |
Following recently observed increase in drug resistant strains found in hospitals, anti-microbial copper may be the answer to it as well. And a growing number of hospitals around the world have implemented anti-microbial copper surfaces. Recent installations include WSSK Hospital, located in Wroclaw, south-west Poland where the following surfaces were upgraded to copper – door handles, grab rails in bathrooms and showers, grab rails in toilets and a shower chair in a disabled bathroom, portable drip stands, drip stands for hospital bed use, treatment trolleys, bed rails, toilet flush plates, toilet seats, light switches.
In Asia, Chiyoda Hospital, on the island of Kyushu in Japan, has become the world’s first new hospital to be fitted throughout with antimicrobial copper door furniture. Dr Susumu Chiyotanda, who owns the facility, said of his choice, “I thought about the things patients would touch most frequently, and focused on those surfaces where deadly microbes could be transmitted to others. We want to shut down the cycle of infection, and these microbes are killed by copper.”
The Roberto del Rio Children’s Hospital – the oldest paediatric facility in Chile, South America – has installed antimicrobial copper surfaces in its intensive care and treatment rooms.
What are the learnings that can be implemented in the Indian scenario?
Self-disinfecting surfaces such as copper are a significant step forward in reducing infection-causing microbial bioloads on clinical surfaces. Facility management teams and infection control professionals in India should now ask the question: why select a non-antimicrobial surface when we now know that some naturally-occurring metals, such as copper, have this intrinsic antimicrobial activity.
What are the challenges that you face in the Indian market? What is your gameplan to overcome them?
In India, hospital administrators like the concept and have requested for supply of the material. For antimicrobial copper supplies, the supply chain consisting of manufacturers and suppliers of copper and copper alloys as well as the fabricators need a sure demand from hospitals and that too in large quantities. Hence, getting companies to be part of this campaign has been a challenging task so far. Yes, there has been interest generated as can be seen from two companies in India signing up for Cu+ (copper).
How are you planning to position anti-microbial copper in the Indian market to drive its use?
We will use the global experience and apply what is relevant to the Indian market along with our own experiences so far.
You spoke of setting up a supply chain, so who are your suppliers? What are the criterion for choosing a supplier?
As mentioned we have two companies signed up for Cu+. The criteria for selection is based on the conditions of use laid down by the ICA and the local copper centres have been authorised to provide the Cu+ mark based on this.
Which are the hospitals in India that have already adopted it? Which hospitals are your targetting?
We are doing a pilot study with the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai for their new ICU. We are targeting the new metro blood bank projects. Some private hospitals have envisaged interest as well as government hospitals.
How do you plan to persuade Indian hospitals to use anti-microbial copper? What would be the USPs?
Scientific research and clinical trials have proven that touch surfaces are a major source of hospital-acquired infections. And the deployment of copper surfaces in clinical trials has led to a 40 to 70 per cent reduction in infection rates. Furthermore, antimicrobial copper is the only solid surface material registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continuously kill bacteria that pose a threat to human health. No other touch surface, including silver-containing coatings, has this kind of registration.
What is the price differential between anti-microbial copper and the normally used fittings?
There is a clear business case for upgrading touch surfaces to anti-microbial copper when you consider its superior performance which has some very tangible healthcare benefits—safer care (significant reduction in the number of infections and as a result the number of deaths related to HAIs), cheaper care (with a significant reduction in the number of patients with HAIs follows a significant reduction in the cost of treating patients with HAIs), more care (fewer HAIs frees up resources, including beds and staff, to be used for the treatment of additional patients).
Has this price differential been a deterrent to its deployment in some markets? If so, what is the market penetration strategy to address these issues?
In the US for example, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) can increase the length of time patients stay in hospital by up to almost five times. As a result the average cost of care for a HAI patient increases by 227 per cent.
The extra cost of care per bed far outweighs any price differential for specifying antimicrobial copper for touch surfaces.