Nepal's import of medical equipment from China more than doubles in last 7 months

Nepal's import of medical equipment and tools from China more than doubled during the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2020-21 amid COVID-19 pandemic although overall import from its northern neighbour plunged, Nepali central bank's statistics show.

Import of medical equipment and tools surged by 114 percent to 20.9 million U.S. dollars as of the first seven months of the current fiscal year that began in mid-July 2020.

Nepal imported these items worth 9.8 million U.S. dollar during the same period of last fiscal year 2019-20.

This is however the continuation of the trend observed in the entire 12 months of the last fiscal year 2019-20. Nepal's import of these items from China soared by 107 percent to 28.8 million U.S. dollar in fiscal 2019-20, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics.

Coronavirus virus crisis in Nepal had begun from second half of the last fiscal year and has continued till now affecting the general lives and economy badly.

While import of the medical items from China surged substantially, Nepal also imported huge quantity of medical equipments from other countries

Ram Sharan Bhandari, chairperson of Om Surgical Concern, an importer of medical equipments and tools, told Xinhua on Friday that the increased import of medical equipment and tools was particularly due to the high demand for the testing kits and equipment as well as personal protective equipment against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"After the pandemic entered into Nepal last year, the demand for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machines and kits to be used in such machines, personal protective equipment gowns and other disposable materials surged," he said. "Both the government and the private hospitals have sought supply of these items massively in the last one year."

The Nepali government has made substantive rise in health budget in the current fiscal year, particularly for developing infrastructure, which is expected to boost demand for medical equipments in the country.

While import of medical equipment and tools from China surged, overall import from China declined during the first seven months of this fiscal.

According to the NRB's statistics, Nepal's total import from China decreased by 12.4 percent to 998 million U.S. dollar as of first seven months of this fiscal.

According to the statistics, Nepal saw decline in most of the important goods imported from China such as electrical goods, telecommunication equipment, readymade garments and machineries. "As the number of the cases of COVID-19 has been decreasing substantially in the recent months, demand for medical equipment is likely to decrease in the days to come," said Bhandari.

As of Thursday, the Nepali government reported 275,625 COVID-19 cases while the total deaths reached 3,015, accordion to the country's health ministry.