Philips sees huge potential in India for sleep labs

Hyderabad, Jan 27 (PTI) With more and more Indiansgetting affected by sleep disorder, Philips Healthcare, amajor player in providing equipment for setting up sleep labs,has decided to tap the huge market potential here.

The company which has so far installed 120 sleep labs inthe country, mostly in corporate hospitals, is aiming toinstall 120 more labs during 2011, a senior company officialsaid today.

"At present we have 120 sleep labs across the country. Wewant to continue increasing our diagnostic capabilities,increase the number of diagnostic centres and want to doubleit in 2011," Philips Healthcare, (Home Healthcare Solutions)Business Manager Satyakam Sharma told reporters here today.

The company has started identifying physicians who wishto set up sleep labs in the country, he said.

United States and Europe are the major markets for sleeplabs for Philips, which acquired US-based firm Respironicsin 2008, he said adding since 2010 "We are focusing onemerging markets like India in a big way."

Sharma said Philips conducted a survey in 2009 thatshowed 93 per cent of Indians were sleep-deprived and 11 percent of Indians ( at some point) took leave from work becauseof lack of sleep.

This survey clearly indicates that India has a largepotential which has yet not been tapped, he said.

"We are also assisting the physicians to ensure that theyare equipped enough with the domain knowledge that we have onsetting up the sleep labs," Sharma said.

Philips has also been providing sleep lab equipmentfor clinical training to physicians and specialists forestablishing these labs.

"We are identifying the physicians and as a manufacturerwe are ready to extend expertise on devices and information,"he added.