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Driven by COVID-19 Demand, PPE Market to Hit $9B by 2027

Analysis  |  By Jack O'Brien  
   April 20, 2020

Respiratory protective equipment represented almost 11% of global revenue last year, according to a recent report.

The global personal protective equipment (PPE) market is expected to reach nearly $9 billion by 2027, according to a report released Monday morning.

Grand View Research, a San Francisco-based research and consulting company, projects the market will display a compound annual growth rate of 8.5% during the forecast period, driven by the rise in demand for PPE to protect healthcare workers who treat patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The report also indicated that the increased adoption of gloves as a result of the outbreak will lead to disposable gloves experiencing demand growth of 8.6% by 2027. Additionally, respiratory PPE represented almost 11% of global revenue last year.

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"The adoption of new practices and the development of advanced products are expected to have a positive impact on the use of medical services across the globe," Grand View stated in a press release. "In addition, increasing disposable income is expected to aid developing economies in availing advanced healthcare services, thereby driving the expenditure in the industry."

Hospitals, which accounted for nearly 56% of the PPE market last year, have struggled to acquire adequate supplies of PPE during the ongoing pandemic.

Late last week, an executive from Baystate Health, a nonprofit health system based in Springfield, Massachusetts, detailed his recent experience ordering and obtaining PPE in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Andrew W. Artenstein, M.D., chief physician executive at Baystate, wrote that the order received by the health system was only one-quarter of the original order, two agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived at the pickup spot to question him about the supplies, and he subsequently called his congressional representative to prevent the seizure of the equipment by the Department of Homeland Security.

Related: Mass. Hospital Executive Says He Was Questioned by FBI While Buying Equipment

As noted by Grand View, PPE manufacturers such as 3M and Honeywell are working to provide an "uninterrupted supply" of PPE during this crisis. However, earlier this month, 3M warned President Donald Trump that halting exports under the Defense Production Act would make respirator masks less available in the United States.

Related: How One Arizona Health System Is Preparing Emergency Department, Critical Care for Surge

Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.


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