Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, today announced that it is increasing the production of certain critical care products and solutions to help diagnose and treat patients with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
According to the company, the most needed products are patient vital signs monitors and portable ventilators and medical consumables for non-invasive and invasive ventilation to treat a broad range of respiratory conditions.
Other products and solutions to help address the preparedness, response and recovery needs of COVID-19 include a range of diagnostic imaging systems (CT, mobile diagnostic X-ray, and ultrasound) to help diagnose and assess respiratory conditions, as well as hospital telehealth solutions to centrally monitor and manage patients in the intensive care unit (Philips eICU program), and telehealth solutions to connect caregivers and patients at home.
The company is mobilizing its global supplier network to step up support and production in this extraordinary situation. Philips has a global manufacturing footprint with final assembly sites in North America, Europe and Asia, and, equally important, a global network of certified materials and component suppliers.
In line with the recent call to action by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and World Health Organization (WHO), Philips is also calling on governments to facilitate enhanced access to critical materials and components by not imposing restrictions such as export controls and tariffs and to provide help to accelerate logistics, as well as exemptions for critical suppliers from lockdown measures.
Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips:
In line with Philipsā mission to improve peopleās lives, we want to help as many healthcare providers as possible to deal with the growing numbers of critical COVID-19 patients. We are working around the clock to double our hospital ventilator production within the next eight weeks, and we are aiming for a four-fold increase by the third quarter. We are actively engaging with the medical technology industry, governments, the World Health Organization and other health authorities to safeguard the production expansion of materials, components, and final products, as well as their shipment between countries. We believe in the fair allocation of scarce medical equipment to those that need it the most while we are ramping up to supply other regions in the coming months.
Main image credits: Royal Philips
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