{"id":461338,"date":"2011-07-15T05:34:08","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T05:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/07\/15\/time-for-steel-makers-to-invest-in-orthopaedic-implants\/"},"modified":"2011-07-15T05:34:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T05:34:08","slug":"time-for-steel-makers-to-invest-in-orthopaedic-implants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/15\/time-for-steel-makers-to-invest-in-orthopaedic-implants\/","title":{"rendered":"Time for Steel Makers to Invest in Orthopaedic Implants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Business Daily<\/a> (Nairobi)<\/p>\n

Edward Omete<\/p>\n

13 July 2011<\/p>\n

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The orthopaedic implants industry was valued at $7.5 billion in 2009, according to a Texas based research company. It is projected to grow further this year amid rising cases of road accidents causing many deaths and fractures.<\/p>\n

A big percentage of these accidents occur in developing countries whose road safety record is pathetic.<\/p>\n

In Kenya, lax traffic law and weak penalties for reckless driving are the main causes of the high number of accidents.<\/p>\n

Bad roads<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rise in motorcycle users and bad roads are also to blame.<\/p>\n

The best way to manage fractures is with orthopaedic implants; they reduce time spent in hospitals by half and have better outcomes.<\/p>\n

The alternative mode of management is traction. Due to the high cost of implants locally, we are forced to use the latter especially in public hospitals.<\/p>\n

With traction, one can be bed ridden for months. This prolonged immobilisation is responsible for congestion in our orthopaedic wards.<\/p>\n

This period of loss of functional activity is calculated by the disability adjusted life year (DALY).<\/p>\n

According to the surgical implant generation network (SIGN),” Road accidents are as serious a problem as Aids or TB, when measured in DALYs. For example, in all lower and middle income countries (where Kenya lies), Road accidents cause 3.177 million more DALYs than TB in 15 to 29-year old males.” By 2020, road accidents are projected to be the third leading cause of death or disability in the entire world!<\/p>\n

Why this high DALY figure?<\/p>\n

A big number of orthopaedic patients are in the lower socio-economic rung, often uninsured and informally employed.<\/p>\n

As a result the majority cannot afford the surgery option.<\/p>\n

Many end up being put on traction. Public hospitals’ hands are tied as they cannot buy implants for patients.<\/p>\n

Since implants cost double, even if they waived theatre fees, it is still hard for these patients to afford the surgery option.<\/p>\n

The solution to this problem lies in lowering the cost of implants.<\/p>\n

Most implants are made abroad and before they reach the hospital, have passed through many middlemen. Like all goods, the longer the distribution chain, the higher the cost .<\/p>\n

The ideal goal would be to eliminate middlemen. This can only happen by producing the implants locally. Since steel accounts for more than 60 per cent of medical equipment and implants, our local steel industry should venture into this field. For them it makes sense; the market is there , more than 200,000 people need implants in Kenya alone.<\/p>\n

Why would you make and sell a whole roofing sheet at Sh800 when you can sell a piece of eight inches of steel for 10 times more?<\/p>\n

The problem with our industries is lack of ideas and ambition. Forty years after independence we are still making sufurias and roofing sheets! Value addition is what vision 2030 calls for.<\/p>\n

I long for the theatre day I will see an orthopaedic implant branded “Devki Steel” or a surgical instrument branded, “Made in Kenya.”<\/p>\n

Rocket science<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course sceptics will query our capability. But these items aren’t made from rocket science. And even if they were, with the right business model we would still be able to do it.<\/p>\n

We have many local pharmaceutical industries manufacturing generic drugs. The result; the cost of drugs has reduced drastically. You can get a drug for a tenth the value of the original patent.<\/p>\n

Why can’t we have “generic implants”? All the steel companies need is an agreement to manufacture under license.<\/p>\n

As the region’s leading health industry, we should leverage on this advantage to create and sell these to neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n

Omete is a medical doctor.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Excerpt from:
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