It is a pity that a Ventilator costing probably ₹ 50,000 ($700), invented by one Prof Diwakar Vaish is not promoted by at least procuring those for the rural health centres in the states, which can easily purchase one and in these troubled times of COVID19, and we would not been wanting at least on ventilators. The state health ministers should answer the shortage.

In one of the promotional videos, a Dr in the AIIMS says that there is a 5 year waiting list for patients to be kept on ventilators.

Who is this Prof. Diwakar Vaish, let me paste the screen shots for better impact:

If we do not promote our own inventions, for whatever reason, when will we be the beneficiaries of our own innovations?

Let us assume that there are around 700 districts in India and there are over 2,00,000 Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and Sub Centres. If we as a Nation had placed an order of one ventilator per PHC, we would not be running around.

We have innovators, but their innovations are not scalable. So a big fish which has scalability gobbles up our local innovators. And these innovators also would be happy to monetise the return on investment made over a period of time.

Why shouldn’t we as a nation identify these innovators and purchase from them and be generous so that they stay in INDIA and believe in the scalability of INDIA?

Time to support at least the small time successful innovators who have a product to back their claims.

Look at the prices being quoted in the net. It is shameful that a Ventilator, which should be a handmaiden for meeting the exigencies of human needs, is being sold as a Golden Goose, provided one houses it in a good hospital with a good insurance tie up, so that the Ventilator could be used for milking patients at the rate of ₹ 10,000/- per day.

This invention would hurt many surgical equipment dealers; hospital purchase people; and in quite a lot of cases even the management, as the idiosyncratic billability appears high. All big bucks are made only in the business of healing or killing human lives. (Read- Health & Defence).

It is time we as a nation build up our infrastructure State-wise and not be guided by merely keeping up with the other States by making that the benchmark for our allocation (distance between states) and assessing progress. Each State should build up its infrastructure for its own good. Infrastructure cannot be built overnight. Time we not just allowed innovators to compete, but promote them out of state funds by purchasing their products, which are approved as per international standards organisations.

We as a nation should not be left clueless in these times of unpredictable trouble.