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Economic activity stagnated due to the spread of infection

COVID-19, which was first confirmed to be infected in Wuhan, China in December 2019, quickly spread from China to Asia, then invaded Europe and the United States beyond Asia and rapidly spread the infection. (From the National Institute of Infectious Diseases). Currently, the number of patients is increasing rapidly in Africa and South America, and due to the large population compared to North and Europe and the medical system, further spread of infection is a concern.

The most important thing in taking measures against such strong infectious diseases is to block the flow of people. The blockdown of cities in major cities such as China, India, Italy, Spain and the United States is the most important. In those areas, the effect of deterring the spread of infection was seen, and the lockdown was quickly released in Wuhan, which is considered to be the ignition point of the epidemic.
On the other hand, however, such a strong containment policy has led to a widespread stagnation of economic activity. According to the economic outlook released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 14, 2020, the expansion of COVID-19 will reduce the economic growth rate in 2020 by 3% from the previous year. The IMF warns that countries' economies are shrinking at the fastest pace in decades and "face the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s."

Japan is in danger of lack of medical supplies

In a situation where emerging infectious diseases dominate the world, not only will human exchanges, stagnation of logistics, and declines in economic activity be brought about, but life maintenance will be based on the idea that the lives of our own people are our top priority. Many countries are now adopting protectionist policies for the medical supplies involved.

Newsweek Japan (April 28, 2020) reports that the spread of COVID-19 infections is endangering the international supply chain of medical supplies such as ventilators and masks. According to the magazine, "54 countries and regions such as Britain and France have restricted the distribution of some medical supplies from the beginning of the year, and 70 new export restrictions have been imposed in March alone."

In response to this situation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested the top of the industry, including Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi of Keidanren, to increase the production of medical supplies on April 15. At this time, he said, "We must secure the production and supply chain of important supplies in the fight against the new coronavirus in Japan. We have secured up to 15,000 ventilators, but to 20,000. I want to increase it. " At the same time, it is also in talks with ASEAN countries and is calling for the provision of medical supplies to Japan. Furthermore, in the supplementary budget and emergency economic measures for FY2020, a budget of 8.8 billion yen was secured in the name of supporting the increase in production of medical equipment.

In addition, as a response of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, on February 4, the Economic Affairs Division of the Medical Affairs Bureau addressed three industry groups: the Japan Medical Device Industry Association, the American Medical Device / IVD Industry Association, and the European Business Association Medical Device / IVD Committee. , Confirmed the stock status, future manufacturing prospects, etc. of medical devices or raw materials imported from China, and contacted them to take necessary measures for stable supply. On April 3, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Pharmaceuticals Examination and Management Division and the Medical Device Examination and Management Division clarified the handling of pharmaceutical regulations to further secure and increase production of respirators, etc. for measures against new coronavirus infections. By doing so, he announced that he would expedite the approval review of products such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, in-vitro diagnostic drugs, and regenerative medicine.
In this way, the government feels the danger of dependence of medical supplies overseas and is taking various measures to ensure a stable domestic supply.

Pros and cons of increasing domestic production of medical supplies

In fact, looking at the import and export of medical devices, the import value is 1,556.4 billion yen out of the domestic market size of 2,887.0 billion yen, and the difference from the export value of 584 billion yen reaches 972.4 billion yen, which is a tendency. Is still going on. In addition, the average annual growth rate from 2011 to 2016 is that the export value is 4.0%, while the import value is 8.0%, which is twice the export value. (From the 2016 Pharmaceutical Affairs Industry Production Statistics)

However, Japan's medical devices do not generally depend on imports, and their strengths and weaknesses are clear depending on the type. According to the materials prepared by the Health and Medical Strategy Office of the Cabinet Secretariat, medical X-ray CT equipment, clinical chemistry testing equipment, extracorporeal blood circulation equipment, medical endoscopes, etc. have a high share of Japanese companies and are exported overseas. There is.

In contrast, the products that Japanese companies have a low share and depend on the import of overseas products are surgical electrical equipment and related equipment, ligation / suturing equipment / instruments, in-vivo transplantation equipment, and biophysical phenomenon inspection equipment. , Magnetic resonance diagnostic imaging equipment, etc. Especially this time, it has been pointed out that there is little room for domestic production increase because most of the PPEs and respirators such as medical masks and gowns, which are regarded as a problem in the medical field, are overseas products. ..
However, there are many challenges in increasing the domestic production of medical supplies. For example, a respirator requires about 200 parts to manufacture, so it is expected that manufacturing will not be able to keep up with the increasing demand under the circumstances like this. However, it is also difficult to easily change the parts manufacturer, and it takes cost and time to obtain new approval from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, including verification of whether reliability and safety can be guaranteed. In addition, increasing domestic production of medical supplies will lead to soaring prices, which will further increase the financial burden on medical institutions.
In this way, the problems felt by the government that wants to increase the domestic production of medical supplies, the companies that manufacture medical supplies, and the sites that actually use medical supplies are different. It has been.

Balance imports and domestic production throughout the industry

However, the government's statement that "if it remains unsold, it will be purchased as a stockpile" has been a tailwind, and the production of medical supplies is increasing in the industrial world (Table).
Nihon Kohden has announced that it aims to supply 1,000 mask-type ventilators produced at its factory in Gunma prefecture within the next six months from the conventional 360 units per year. Sony has announced that it will increase production of ventilator parts in response to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's policy of simplifying examinations, and will start production cooperation for 1,000 to 2,000 units at the earliest in July.
Terumo will increase production of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which was being promoted at the Shizuoka Plant, and will produce the equivalent of one year's worth in a few months. Canon has also increased production of ultrasonic equipment for pneumonia diagnosis, and Honda has announced that it will produce face shields in a short period of time using 3D printers for designing body parts and provide them to medical sites. In response, each company is actively working to increase the production of medical supplies.
However, now that the number of people infected with COVID-19 has begun to decrease, it will be necessary to revise the production increase plan so as not to lead to overproduction and overimport of medical supplies. Regarding the response to medical supplies during a pandemic, which was revealed by the spread of COVID-19 infection, in Japan, the entire medical equipment industry, such as diversifying production bases and significantly strengthening stocks in consideration of the balance between imports and domestic production. Further review of the manufacturing and supply system is required.