Medilines aims to retain market leadership
MEDILINES Distributors inc. has set its sights on retaining its leadership in the distributor segment for critical medical equipment in the country, riding on the overall growth of the industry due to the pandemic.
Medilines Chairman Virgilio B. Villar, brother of Allday Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr., said the company is committed to continue providing the country with quality medical devices to address the needs of the growing Philippine healthcare industry.
Villar said there is a need to intensify the distribution of quality medical equipment even after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Medilines plans to expand its presence and product portfolio in the near future to help enhance the country’s healthcare system.
“We believe that there will always be demand for medical products, in as much as there will always be a patient needing care,” Villar said.
He said, however, that the Philippine healthcare system remains far behind compared with first world countries, but he noted that “we are slowly getting there.”
Based on a recent independent study made by Ken Research, spending on healthcare rose to P911.4 billion in 2020 from P489.1 billion in 2014, or a compounded annual growth rate of 11 percent.
Healthcare expenditure is expected to grow further at 11.2 percent to reach P1.5 trillion by 2025.
These healthcare expenditures include overall spending by government and private healthcare units, as well as household out of pocket disbursements.
The growth of the healthcare sector is driven by a growing and aging population. it is also driven by the increasing incidences of non-communicable diseases in the country, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, while respiratory diseases are also on the rise.
The momentum is further supported by the passage of the universal Health Care Law, which is making structural reforms to the healthcare delivery system through the expansion of the country’s health insurance scheme and the upgrade of medical facilities nationwide.
Medilines is a leading distributor of medical equipment to public and private healthcare facilities across the Philippines. it maintains a portfolio of bestin-class equipment from worldrenowned brands such as Siemens Healthineers (Germany) for diagnostic imaging, B. Braun (Germany) for dialysis, and Varian (USA) for cancer therapy.
The company said there has been a huge demand for medical devices, particularly for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This showcases the promising growth prospects for the medical device industry in the Philippines, it said.
According to Ken Research, a number of private companies and individuals have invested in the development of hospital infrastructure across the Philippines in the past few years.
Several companies have also acquired stakes in the health sector, providing much-needed capital for the expansion and modernization of facilities.
To address the top causes of morbidity in the country, most hospitals focus their enhancements on specialized services for radiology, cardiac, lung and kidney examinations, cancer treatment, pathology, and dialysis.
Medical devices that are related to these top diseases have high sales potential for suppliers. These include electro-cardiographs, computed tomography apparatus (CT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, ultrasound, x-ray, radiation equipment, breathing apparatuses, dialysis machines, and linear accelerators.