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State-owned weapons, electronics manufacturers to produce ventilators for COVID-19 patients
PT Pindad has developed a ventilator prototype and is currently seeking medical certification from the Health Ministry’s Health Equipment Monitoring Agency (BPPK).
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A medical worker checks a ventilator at the intensive care unit of Pertamina Jaya Hospital in Central Jakarta on April 6, 2020. (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
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tate-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad and electronics manufacturer PT LEN Industri are developing and planning to mass-produce ventilators to help hospitals handle COVID-19 patients, officials said.
Pindad has developed a ventilator prototype and is currently seeking medical certification from the Health Ministry’s Health Equipment Monitoring Agency (BPPK), the company’s president director, Abraham Mose, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
“We have tested it in our hospital in Bandung and it’s already operational. Once we receive the green light from the BPPK, we will be able to produce 40 ventilators per day,” he said.
Read also: Indonesia looks to China, S. Korea for medical supplies
Pindad, he went on to say, had been developing the ventilators since early March and expected to be able to produce the machines “in a matter of weeks.”
Indonesia currently has 8,936 ventilators divided between 1,827 hospitals across the country, according to Health Ministry data on March 23. Meanwhile, official data shows the number of COVID-19 cases in the country having reached 2,956, with 240 fatalities, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia, as of Wednesday afternoon. Scientists have estimated that the number of cases could reach 71,000 by the end of April.
Abraham said that while Pindad was independently developing the ventilators, he expressed hope for a collaboration with LEN Industri to improve the ventilators.
“We’re producing the ventilators by ourselves for now, but I think the machine will work better if it’s equipped with an oxygen flow sensor, among other things,” he said. “And for that to happen, I think we need to work together with other electronics companies such as PT LEN.”
Read also: PTDI, Indofarma, universities working on ventilator prototypesHospital chains perform well on IDX, thanks to rising awareness about healthy living
Separately, LEN Industri told the Post on Wednesday that the company was also developing a ventilator in collaboration with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). The company declined to further elaborate on the project as their product was still in the trial process, according to its statement to the Post.
Pindad and Len Industri have joined the list of companies working to develop and produce medical equipment to help meet skyrocketing demand for equipment to treat COVID-19 patients.
State-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia told the Post on Tuesday that the aerospace company planned to mass-produce one of five ventilator prototypes currently being tested by the Health Ministry.
State-owned pharmaceuticals firm PT Indofarma is also developing health equipment such as invasive ventilators, hospital beds, IV posts and negative-pressured isolation stretchers.
Read also: Hospital chains perform well on IDX, thanks to rising awareness about healthy living
A sharp increase in demand for masks has also prompted other manufacturers from various industries to produce masks and other personal protective equipment.
Textile companies such as publicly listed PT Pan Brothers and PT Sri Rejeki Isman have switched some of their production lines to make masks and coveralls. Pan Brothers agreed to produce 20 million washable masks and 100,000 jumpsuits by April, as ordered by the government and several retailers.
