PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Rubber Gloves Manufacturers Association (Margma) has called for an urgent meeting with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to resolve issues surrounding the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in Selangor as 58% of all gloves produced in Malaysia come from glove manufacturers in the state.
Margma president Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam said medical examination gloves, like face masks, are part of essential personal protection equipment that are required by countries around the world, especially during the current battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Since the government’s announcement on the imposed EMCO on the state of Selangor, global customers of our manufacturers have been calling with great concern on shortage of production and delivery of gloves to them. Our members are under tremendous pressure from global hospitals and healthcare workers as the pandemic has now evolved into another variant.
“There is a big fear going around the global healthcare sectors when our Minister announced the possibility of a shutdown of the glove industry as the medical gloves are sorely needed to protect the frontliners and hospital staff. The worry is further heightened when it comes to surgical gloves as if there is a shutdown, no operation is possible without sterilised surgical gloves being available,“ he said in a statement today.
Margma members collectively produce and export gloves to 195 countries around the world. Malaysian manufacturers are the largest producer of gloves as a medical device, supplying 67% of global consumption.
“Our members have been supportive of the government’s effort to fight the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and have been coping with the 60% ordinance in MCO 3.0 to ensure no severe shortage of this important PPE supply to the world. Though lead times on delivery have been stretched slightly longer, it was still manageable. The EMCO, on the other hand, will now further hamper the supply situation, hence we are calling for an urgent meeting with Miti to work together to address concerns by all parties involved.
“We are urgently appealing to the government to allow these glove factories to continue to operate while adhering to strict SOPs,“ said Supramaniam.
Since April 2021, Margma members have agreed to vaccinate all employees, with the companies bearing the costs. All employees of glove manufacturers, besides being registered for the National Immunisation Programme on MySejahtera, are registered with the Public-Private Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pikas), Selangor Vaccination Programme (Selvax) and the latest, Vaccination Programme for the Agri-commodity Sector (Vacoms).
“However, up until today, we are still waiting for the delivery of vaccines.”
In the meantime, all members continue to adhere to strict SOPs and have been conducting periodic Covid-19 RTK-Ag screening.
“We have also appealed to the government to make available soonest possible the saliva-based Covid-19 test kit which will greatly enhance the frequency for screening of workers. Our manufacturers have also agreed to bear all the costs of these test kits,” Supramaniam said.
Global demand for gloves remains extremely robust for the healthcare sector and Margma members have been urged to pay more attention to assist on supply to hard-hit nations, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and those in South America. As Europe and America move towards a recovery phase, Margma members are gearing up to meet the demand of the non-healthcare sectors such as food handling, industrial, cleanroom laboratory, dermatology, tattooing, etc. Traditionally, this sector makes up about 17 % of glove consumption.
Global demand for gloves in 2021 is expected to remain at 420 billion pieces with 13,318 pieces used every second around the world. Demand growth is expected at 15-20% growth for next year.
