Challenges in the African Orthopedic Market: Who’s Solving It?

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From the Directors Desk
Going to a healthcare expo on a global level is
always an exciting journey. It allows engaging
with an array of individuals who share a similar
passion. These individuals, just like me, take
an active interest in reshaping the future of
modern healthcare, particularly by promoting
innovation and excellence in their respective
?elds.
We recently came back from our three-day MedExpo
journey, and it was an event worth remembering.
MedExpo Kenya 2024 was nothing less than a global
hub for healthcare professionals where people
came together, discussed business, and tried
their best to turn these partnerships into
enduring business deals for the future. While we
talk about business partnerships and engagement,
lets not forget that expos are never just
limited to the same. We dont just engage in
conversations for conversions and partnerships,
we engage to understand the other side. By
understanding what the current market desires and
how the primary people involved in this market
chain are facing problems, we can try to bring
forth a change that embraces positivity.
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Our recent set of engagements at MedExpo 2024
brought to light many loopholes in the
orthopedic market chain. The African market
resides in a backdrop that is prone to change,
and in this backdrop of change, the intersection
of healthcare advancements and shifting medical
paradigms plays a signi?cant role in the
decision-making of the stakeholders. The people
who visited our booth included distributors,
surgeons, medical representatives, hospital
owners, and medical professionals from various
corners of the world. However, a large chunk of
this number included professionals from the
African market itself, and therefore a lot of
problems that they face in their daily business
lives came to the surface. Think of it this way
if you are a distributor, surgeon, or hospital
owner, what will be your primary focus when
buying implants internationally? What will be the
driving force behind your decision to purchase?
Quality, quantity, price, or after-sales
support? After engaging in more than a hundred
meetings and discussions with our booth visitors
and trying to understand the problems from their
core perspective, it is clear that the African
market struggles with multiple problems in the
?eld of orthopedic care. A set of three
problems was uncovered that surgeons and
distributors face daily while doing business.
Lets take a look at them below High
Pricing The international market believes in
price affordability over everything else. Often,
the price that manufacturers provide is more than
what the distributors/surgeons can afford. This
leads them to let go of a deal due to pricing
negotiations with the manufacturers. Many of them
believed that access to proper healthcare is a
human right and high pricing is an imminent
hindrance to this access. So, in this case,
shouldnt they look for manufacturers who uphold
the values of accessible healthcare overall and
export orthopedic implants at an affordable
range? Late Delivery The orthopedic supply chain
market is a chain, a chain that has an
end-customer to feed. The end customers in this
chain are always patients and if they remain
dissatis?ed, the chain becomes a purposeless
activity. Since international exports of
orthopedic implants often take time to get
delivered, the operation time gets delayed,
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and patients remain dissatis?ed. So, in this
case, shouldnt they look for manufacturers who
deliver on time and have every regulatory
document ready? Lack of Support Distributors
often face problems with the quality of implants.
Many times, the quality they desire is not
delivered to them and manufacturers turn a blind
eye to their concerns after the sales are done.
So, in this case, shouldnt they look for
manufacturers who make it a point to take
feedback after the implants are delivered and
provide dedicated after-sales support? The
problem lies in the fact that most of the time,
orthopedic dealerships come off as mere
businesses. But is that the right way to look at
it? De?nitely not! Therefore, the need of the
hour is to ?nd a solutiona solution that aligns
with the interests of the distributors and
surgeons in the market and allows them to get
into business deals quicker and faster. Since
my expertise intersects between leadership and
business ethics, I understand the market is
hungry for a change and I am here to give you the
desired change.
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Zealmax Ortho On a Mission to Bring a Change
When we started Zealmax Ortho in 2006,. We wanted
to build a company that empowers human movements
throughout the world. For any leader who foresees
a market ruled by trust and transparency, sales
as an entity of business come later. In any
business that one deals with, the primary
approach is establishing trust and providing a
new perspective to the global audience.
Therefore, establishing a trustworthy and
transparent market for a?rmative orthopedic trade
is important. With my experience ranging across
15 years in the ?eld of orthopedic leadership,
Zealmax Ortho is here with a newer perspective
and even newer solutions for you that can bring
forth a change in the market.
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Affordable Pricing Like I said before, my
priority is to make affordable and high-quality
orthopedic care accessible to everyone in the
world. We understand that people from different
sectors of the world have different affordability
structures and diverse buying capacities.
Henceforth, we offer market-aligned prices which
differ according to region speci?cations and
order capacities. Prompt Delivery When we export
orthopedic implants, the staggering problem in
the process is custom clearance. Customs take
time to clear, starting from the customs
clearance source to the customs clearance
destination. We understand the anxiety that
distributors go through when placing their trust
in international manufacturers. What if the
implants go through a problem while exporting and
dont reach us on time? Therefore, to bring
distributors out of this anxiety, we have a
solution. We keep our documentation of customs
clearances ready and a lack of regulatory
compliance from our end will never be a
hindrance in shipping the orders and getting them
delivered on time. Dedicated After-Sales
Support As a business, we believe in getting
feedback because the valuable feedback from our
clients drives us a step closer to excellence.
Our dedicated international sales team acts as a
single point of contact for the business in hand,
from the time you buy the implants to the time of
delivery. We offer dedicated after-sales support,
ready to help distributors with any struggles
they are facing and also take the feedback they
have in store for us. The healthcare sector is a
magnum of change, witnessing growth with each
passing day. While expansion and growth are
important, the growth should enable the primary
stakeholders involved in the sector, namely
distributors and surgeons. Furthermore, this
growth happens in a way that facilitates patients
and aims to make their lives better. The clock
is set and the market is hungry for change. And
Zealmax Ortho is here to bring in and be the
change. While we value sales, nothing matters
more to us than client satisfaction. As a
company, we wish to make our clients lives easy
by delivering them excellence and make them
settle for nothing less.