|
Creating Greater Awareness
of the Risks of Sudden Cardiac Arrests to Spur Demand for External
Cardiovascular Defibrillators in Western and Eastern Europe
Growing Deployment of Automatic
External Defibrillators in the Public Access End-User Market Segment to Fuel
Market Revenues
The decentralisation of
healthcare systems and the mounting pressure to provide high-quality service
despite stringent budgets are creating enormous cost pressures in the external
cardiovascular defibrillators market across eastern and western Europe. However,
affordable and ergonomically convenient automatic external defibrillators (AEDs)
will drive uptake in the public access market, thereby boosting market revenues.
Here, governments across Europe will need to take a more proactive role in
stimulating the interest of private stakeholders in order to support the
development and implementation of AED programmes.
Market penetration for external
cardiovascular defibrillators will not be easily achievable due to low levels of
awareness, lack of regulations pertaining to the use of AED and lengthy
regulatory and industry approval processes. However, in response to this,
governments are currently striving to implement healthcare reforms to promote
awareness of the need for early defibrillation.
Reports indicate that due to
the growing incidence of sudden cardiac arrests (SCAs) in public places, the
lack of access to early defibrillation can prove to be fatal. Hence, AEDs are
being deployed in public access areas including train/railway stations, airports
and ferry boats to improve accessibility to victims, which will reduce the
number of deaths associated with SCAs.
The uptake of AEDs,
particularly in the public access market segment, is likely to witness an annual
growth of 20.0 per cent. As a result, the total European external cardiovascular
defibrillators market is anticipated to reach revenues of $319.0 million by 2011
from $226.0 million in 2004.
"For companies to leverage the
full growth potential of AEDs, governments need to implement community and
school programmes which will augment public awareness of the incidence of (SCAs)",
remarks Ms. Eleni Grammenou, Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan
."Manufacturers would do well to work in tandem with the government to establish
such programmes to create awareness of SCA and the benefits of easy access to
resuscitation equipment for SCA victims."
Market growth will receive a
boost from technological advancements and the implementation of biphasic
technology, which offers higher efficacy to SCA patients in out-of-hospital
emergency conditions. Moreover, defibrillators with dual and multi-mode
functionalities will increasingly be used in the pre-hospital and hospital
markets, due to their enhanced ease of use. This trend, combined with
improvements in data transmission in the pre-hospital setting, will improve the
continuum of patient care leading to an increase in defibrillators sales.
Sustaining market expansion
will also depend on the ability of manufacturers to offer affordable products,
which can be achieved through economies of scale, foreign outsourcing or through
technological innovations. Reducing prices of AEDs and engineering easy-to-use
devices will enable vendors to promote the uptake of defibrillators. In
addition, reviewing product ergonomics to meet the growing demand for
small-sized, user-friendly defibrillators will allow manufacturers to
effectively target potential applications.
"Lastly, with the market
growing more competitive, mergers or joint alliances with larger companies will
enable smaller manufacturers to gain leverage in product development,
manufacturing or marketing competencies", advises Ms. Grammenou. "Investing in
R&D to develop built-in data management programmes of defibrillators for
enhanced data communication will become crucial."
For more details , contact :
Radhika Menon Theodore, Corporate Communications, at
rmtheodore@frost.com
*****
|
