Low awareness amongst hospital personnel and inadequate implementation of infection control guidelines have heightened the incidence of hospital-acquired infection. This, in turn, is generating a real and urgent need for appropriate disinfection and sterilisation safeguards, according to consulting company Frost & Sullivan.
Market opportunities highlighted
"The continuing challenge to achieve non-conventional transmissible agent (NCTA) or prion inactivation capability together with the emergence of newer kinds of viruses such as the vCJD and the spongiform viruses are creating opportunities for further R&D," commented Frost & Sullivan healthcare analyst Aarati Ajay. "To succeed, companies can investigate chemistries that have a broader range of virucidal action."
The growing popularity of minimally invasive procedures is also likely to support market expansion. Here, demand for equipment needed to disinfect the sophisticated instruments used in such procedures is likely to rise over the medium to long term. In particular, the washer disinfector and the automated endoscope reprocessor segments are expected to benefit from the move towards minimally invasive surgeries.