Otter Medical is establishing a reputation for expertise and a product innovation in China. With our knowledge of China's immense market, its policies/regulations and business culture, we are poised to take unprecedented advantage of the immense prospects in China's medical device market.

China's commercial dynamism-the new land of opportunity

China's exploding economy is now the world's second-largest, only behind that of the United States. China is growing so rapidly that it is expected to be in a league of its own well before the year 2050.

With its massive population (1.3 billion at last count), the country is a magnet for any global medical device manufacturers vying for a share of the huge market.

Current Injection Safety Issues in China

In China, the consequences of syringe reuse have reached astounding proportions. As blood selling became a common source of income for impoverished farmers in rural areas, reuse of non-sterile needles resulted in spreading of AIDS epidemic and Hepatitis. Moreover, unsafe needles are also applied during vaccination to save costs. These malpractices have led to some highly publicized crisis situations such as the "AIDS Village" in Henan Province.

Hepatitis virus and HIV infection caused by unsafe injections led to 390,000 mortalities in China, a loss of 6.89 million total life years, and the direct medical expenses associated with treating these infectious diseases reached US $142 million dollars.

The annual report published by China's Ministry of Public Health indicated that the number of cases of needle-stick injuries sustained by healthcare workers exceeds 1 million with nurses accounting for 84.6% of these cases.

According to statistics published by the Ministry of Public Health, 30% of immunization injections are unsafe injections, and 50% of therapeutic injections are unsafe. In western rural areas, the proportion of disposable syringe reuse is as high as 70%.

China's Immense Market Potential for Safety Syringes

The Chinese Ministry of Health's priority is to eradicate of syringe reuse. Otter Medical is working closely with the authorities to solve this problem. Regulatory measures, defining safety standards and banning syringe reuse are in the process of being put in place. These will spark an explosive demand for safety syringes.

Furthermore, along with China's rapid economic growth and the gradual rise of its citizens' standard of living, safety syringe demand will increase. When China reaches the international mean of syringe consumption level, annual syringe consumption will exceed 10 billion units.

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