Indian stakeholders in the business of functional wears have introduced a Healthcare Textiles Processing Facility Certification Scheme (HTPFCS) to ensure the quality of healthcare textiles, including personal protective equipment (PPE), by certifying the facilities or laundries that process them for reuse.
The scheme: The scheme covers multiple-use healthcare textiles to be processed only as single-use healthcare Textiles which are not meant to be used again.
- Under the scheme, healthcare textiles processing facilities can apply for certification by undergoing a rigorous evaluation process that includes site visits, documentation reviews, and testing of samples.
- The Healthcare Textiles Processing Facility Certification Scheme has been developed with expert inputs from AMTZ, AHPI, AiMed, and other organisations in the healthcare industry. It aligns with international standards and guidelines, including those of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
- The certification would be carried out by independent third-party certifying agencies to be accredited as per applicable international standard, ISO 17065, and approved by AMTZ to assure their competence, impartiality and consistent implementation of certification process.
- The certification will be valid for a period of three years with periodic surveillance audits with provisions for recertification.
- The HTPFCS was launched on the occasion of World Health Day on 7 April.
The stakeholders: The HTPFCS, by the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI), and Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMed), promotes sustainability by encouraging the use of multi-use textiles items including PPEs in hospitals in place of single-use items which generate huge waste.
- The backdrop The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of healthcare textiles and PPE in protecting healthcare workers and patients from infection. However, the quality of these products depends not only on the materials used but also on the processing facilities where they are sterilized, cleaned, and packaged.
- The Healthcare Textiles Processing Facility Certification Scheme will help ensure that these facilities meet international standards for quality and safety.
