COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the whole planet with its major impacts on the economy and businesses across the globe. The COVID-19 spread worldwide in unprecedented ways due to its high infectious and contagious nature and lack of availability of its vaccine. As a result, the greatest medical challenge in the 21st century is yet to be faced by physicians worldwide. Though the emergence of the virus can be traced back to Asia, many European countries along with the U.S. have been struck massively by the pandemic. The virus has spread across all regions ranging from North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa up to South America. The COVID-19 has been declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) due to its increased spread across the globe. After the declaration of the pandemic, various countries announced the complete lockdown such as India, China, and other Asian countries to decrease its spread. According to the latest situation report by World Health Organization (WHO) stated 175 million cases of the corona have been reported globally and 4 million patients are dead due to the coronavirus. On a slightly positive note, a total of 158 million people have recovered and total of 2 million vaccine doses have been administered as well.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the artificial blood substitute market positively on a global level. The persistence of COVID-19 for a longer period has affected the supply and demand chain of human blood and blood component. During the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturers are expecting a boost in their market as the number of patients needing blood is also increasing with the ongoing diseases and the number of blood donor decreased. Due to this, the demand for artificial blood substitutes has increased which will propel the growth of the global artificial blood substitute market.
The COVID-19 has led to the lockdown all around the world which has impacted the artificial blood substitute market tremendously. Moreover, the coronavirus leads to a drop in oxygen in the body, and artificial blood substitute may be the solution for that as it offers high oxygen-carrying capacity in comparison to the human blood. Although, rising awareness regarding the toxicity and side effects of artificial blood substitutes coupled with the low number of FDA approval for artificial blood substitute products may hamper the growth of the market on a global level.
AFTERMATH OF COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the healthcare system and has led to a decrease in the supply of blood. As coronavirus caused severe acute respiratory syndrome and due to which a lot of people died. The crucial staff members of the hospital also died during the pandemic and along with that, there is a reduction in the number of donations of blood and blood component. Therefore, with decreased blood donation the demand for blood has been increased to support ongoing critical needs and to treat a large number of patients. Hence, the professionals are looking out for options for instance artificial blood substitutes to treat patients on time. The COVID-19 pandemic has majorly affected the healthcare system and blood supply and demand across the globe. For instance,
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the reduction of blood and blood-related activities, including demand and supply, and has affected the healthcare system on a major level.
With the rising incidence of blood-related diseases, the demand for blood will be increased and due to the lack of availability of fresh blood, the need for artificial blood will be increased after the COVID-19 outbreak.
IMPACT ON SUPPLY AND DEMAND
With the ongoing pandemic, the government has put restrictions on the movement of citizens as well as industries, educational institutions, and social organizations. Due to which everything is closed across the country and majorly the blood donation camp are organized by these sectors but with the restriction on movement there is a hold on that. As there is no prior arrangement for blood donation which has worsened the supply of blood as people are not willing to visit blood centres for donation.
For instance,
With the limited supply of human blood, the demand for artificial blood substitutes has increased, which will boost the growth of the market even in the future. People suffering from a disease such as a thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia, haemophilia, leukaemia cancer, and other blood-related diseases need regular blood transfusion even during COVID-19 condition which has increased the demand for artificial blood substitute. Even cancer patients, obstetric conditions, victims of accidents need blood products. The supply chain disruption of blood has driven the demand for artificial blood substitutes across the globe.
The demand for artificial blood is increasing for the blood transfusion process as it offers various advantages over human blood. The artificial blood could be stored for a longer period even for 3 years at room temperature whereas the human blood could only be stored for 42 days. Artificial blood also reduces the risk of contamination of other diseases such as hepatitis, AIDS, and others. One of the main factors driving the artificial blood substitute market is its high oxygen-carrying capacity as one of the major crises in COVID-19 patients is the drop in oxygen level, which could be recovered with artificial blood substitutes as it has high oxygen-carrying capacity in comparison to the human blood. The rising incidence of blood-related diseases increases the demand for blood transfusion and the shortage of blood during a pandemic will push the growth of the global artificial blood substitutes market.
For instance,
The rising incidence of blood-related diseases and increase in the need for blood and blood transfusion will boost the market growth in the future. Also, the artificial blood substitute is preferred over the human blood as it is compatible with all blood types and can be given to the patients regardless of their blood type. Moreover, the vaccinated people are not donating blood which has affected the blood supply and will eventually boost the growth of artificial blood.
For instance,
The regulations for donating blood post-vaccination will affect the supply chain of blood and will lead to its increased demand and create a great opportunity for artificial blood substitutes.
Conclusion
Pandemic has taken a toll on every aspect of life, including the global economy. With the significant downfalls in many sectors, a collaborative effort of government, industry players, and consumers can win the fight against COVID-19.
COVID-19 pandemic has affected the artificial blood substitute market positively. The demand for blood has increased immensely especially in the COVID-19 crisis as the number of patients needing blood has increased whereas the number of donors decreased. This factor will boost the growth of the market. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the government has posed a ban on movement due to which the blood donation camps could not be organized, which is the main reason that the supply of human blood has decreased.
Although the demand for blood is much higher than the donation, it requires an alternate solution. The rising awareness regarding the advantages of artificial blood over human blood will propel market growth globally. Moreover, the incidence of blood-related diseases and the demand for blood transfusion has increased especially in COVID-19 time. Therefore, the need for artificial blood substitute which can be stored for a longer period and can be given to the patients irrespective of their blood type will drive the market growth even in the future. Therefore, the increasing prevalence of diseases will increase the demand for artificial blood substitutes and the market will grow even after the COVID-19 is over.