Baxter India Private Ltd's (BIPL) newly set up Rs 35 crore continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) fluid system manufacturing plant at Manesar, near Delhi, has been cleared for commercial production by the Union Ministry of Health. The plant was undergoing trial runs since March this year and was inspected by the ministry officials in July.

The company, a subsidiary of Baxter International Inc, US, is a leading supplier of CAPD therapy in the country. In 1956, Baxter designed and manufactured the first commercially available, completely disposable dialyser and the first complete hardware system for hemodialysis. It was in 1979 that Baxter released the first complete continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis system.

BIPL was actually expecting to start commercial production in April 2002, but did not get the approval that fast.

"Our Manesar facility has been granted relevant clearances by all the authorities concerned and we have commenced commercial production" Roy Chaudhury of BPIL informed.

In CAPD, dialysis, or removal of waste products from blood, carries on all the time. Unlike haemodialysis, the patient can move around as normal and carry out daily activities. The dialysis takes place in the peritoneum, or the natural lining of the abdomen.

In order to perform CAPD, patients have to undergo a small operation to insert a catheter (a slender tube for passing or removing fluids) into the abdomen. Dialysis fluid enters the peritoneal cavity, extra fluid and waste travels across the peritoneal membrane into the dialysis fluid, and after a few hours, the dialysis fluid is drained.