Tell us about Ansell.

Ansell is a leading global provider of protection solutions protecting millions of healthcare workers around the world. For over 125 years, we have designed, developed and manufactured a wide range of Quality protection solutions to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs and demands. The same dedication to Quality continues today as Ansell has grown to serve 25 global industries in 120 countries in ways that shape and protect our modern world.

How does Ansell plan to expand in India?

Ansell has expanded rapidly since 2017, operating with a dedicated team dedicated to Private, Public, Pharmacy, Dental sectors. All verticals are showing exponential growth and opportunities. In July 2021, Ansell announced an investment of USD$80 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu (India). This facility will have the capability to produce a wide range of ‘Made in India’ (Atmanirbhar Bhar) latex and synthetic surgical and life sciences gloves for the Indian market and for export. Fully integrated with its own compounding, dipping, packaging, gamma sterilization and warehouse facilities this new manufacturing plant is designed and built in line with Indian Green Building Council criteria to minimize water and energy use, maximize renewable energy use, and meet zero liquid discharge. It will set a new benchmark at Ansell for sustainable manufacturing while expanding our manufacturing footprint and significantly adding new capacity. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Thiru M. K. Stalin and the Industry Minister of the State, Thiru Thangam Thennarasu laid the foundation stone for this new Ansell plant.
Since we are talking about powder-free gloves, how is Ansell working towards promoting & educating the end-users about powder-free gloves?

India is still predominantly a powdered glove market. Powder was introduced in gloves to facilitate donning as latex is sticky while donning. Glove technology has come a long way since then. However, powdered gloves is proven to have harmful effects for healthcare professionals and patients alike. Because of that, in 2017 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforced a ban on powdered gloves. Germany was the first country to ban powdered gloves in 1998, followed by UK, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and others. Ansell India has always been at the forefront to heighten awareness of these risks through education while providing the highest quality and widest portfolio of powder-free gloves to meet the needs of hospitals, surgical centers, dental and general healthcare providers.

What are the technologies that go into making Ansell gloves?

Ansell has always been a leader in innovation when it comes to hand protection. We are proud of many firsts, starting with the first commercial production of surgical gloves in the world. To protect healthcare workers across the continuum, we go further by manufacturing quality gloves through unique formulations, processes and glove technologies to deliver heightened glove protection, comfort and performance. Proprietary technologies include DERMASHIELD™, ERGOFORM™, ART™, HYDRASOFT™, SENSOPRENE™, SUREFIT™ and HYBRID™ Technologies that help deliver advanced glove solutions offering ergonomic comfort to reduce hand fatigue, advanced allergy protection and superior barrier protection.

What are the brands that you currently have in the market?

Ansell markets several well-established brands: GAMMEX® & ENCORE® surgical gloves are engineered to respond to the evolving user needs of the surgical community by providing a high degree of confidence to surgeons, O.R. nurses and surgical technicians seeking protection with a high level of dexterity, comfort and grip. While MICRO-TOUCH®, our premium brand of medical examination gloves, are scientifically designed to fully equip and comfortably protect medical professionals.

What should a Healthcare Practitioner look for while buying a good quality glove? And why is it important?

Quality gloves matter to the protection, comfort and performance of HCPs. When choosing a quality glove, HCPs should look at the AQL (Acceptable Quality Level) for freedom from pinholes as it ensures the minimum level of exposure from defective gloves: the lower the AQL, the higher the level of protection. They should also look at gloves with proprietary technologies such as Ansell’s HYDRASOFT™ Technology that helps retain moisture and rehydrate skin. ERGOFORM™ Technology engineers comfortable gloves to improve performance and ease musculoskeletal stress leading to hand-related injuries. DERMASHIELD™ Technology aids with fast and easy damp or dry hand donning whether it is the first don or during intraoperative changes. To protect HCPs from allergies and sensitivities resulting from frequent exposure to glove proteins and chemical accelerators, Ansell’s advanced manufacturing processes, 100% chemical accelerator-free neoprene gloves and Ansell’s unique PI-KARE™ skin-friendly, non-sensitizing PI Technology minimizes the risk of developing a latex allergy and allergic contact dermatitis so they can have a safer day at work.

Ansell is preferred by most of the top surgeons/specialty doctors. I would like to know your comments on that.
Healthcare workers around the world recognize that Ansell gloves are driven by innovations that protect them and their patients in all settings. They know and trust Ansell to deliver gloves that allow them to perform at their very best as gloves offer a high degree of tactile sensitivity without compromising on durability and allergy protection.

Do you plan to expand your portfolio in the coming time?

We plan to introduce a number of unique offerings to elevate protection benchmarks. This includes GAMMEX® Powder-Free with AMT™ has an antimicrobial coating tested and proven to protect from Hep-C surrogate virus, eight common gram-positive, gram-negative and drug resistant bacteria as well as COVID-19 surrogate virus. We also plan to introduce the world’s first pre-donned double gloving system that will allow HCPs to double glove in one don; as well as GAMMEX® PI Radiation Attenuation, a specialty radiation glove to protect hands from the risks of scattered radiation. To support our expansion in E-commerce platforms and the alternate care portfolio, we plan to launch many retail and e-commerce compliant packs to reach new markets, geographies and to allow us to provide the right hand protection solutions to first-time buyers. We want to ensure easy access to quality hand protection solutions across Dental, E-commerce and Pharmacies.

Do you see any gaps in the industry currently? How do you plan to fill those gaps?

We still see a significant gap in awareness of how to differentiate a good quality glove from a lesser quality glove that could risk a HCPs protection. During the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen sub-standard gloves being pushed in many markets. We aim to continue to educate HCPs about quality gloves through training and roadshows. Ansell will also stay future-ready with supply needs as we continue to invest in more production capabilities.