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In today’s Money Morning…why hospitals make so many people sick…one change that could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars…the benefits for miners…and more…
I’m sure you’ve heard the old joke, that the hospital is worst place you could go when you’re sick.
Sadly, it’s often true.
The place that should make you better, instead makes you sicker.
Take the US for example. Roughly 1.7 million people get a healthcare acquired infection (HAI) each year. Of this, around 100,000 a year die from a HAI.
The direct cost to American hospitals is around the $45 billion mark.
Not only that, but HAIs increase the length of a hospital stay. People who pick up a bug spend on average 24 days in hospital. Whereas people who don’t get sick from a hospital bug spend only 5 days in hospital.
Also, you’re significantly more like to die to from a hospital borne illness.
If you get the bug from a general part of the hospital, you a have 1 in 20 chance of dying. But, if you picked up the bug in the ICU, well good night. You’re looking at a 1 in 4 chance of death.
They aren’t good odds.
Sure, hospital cleanliness has something to do with it. As does the rise of super bugs, which antibiotics can’t treat. But there’s another reason hospitals are making us sick.
It’s the stainless steel.
For over 100 years, hospitals have used stainless steel surfaces. This is because it’s a hardy surface, doesn’t rust, it’s cheap to produce and easy to clean.
Yet, the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria — more commonly known as golden staph — can live on a stainless steel surface for days if not cleaned properly.
Of course, medical equipment is wiped down regularly. But picking up bacteria like this is easier than you think. Think of all the things that are touched in hospitals. Now think of all the things that don’t get cleaned regularly.
Bed rails, IV drip poles, chair arm rests, call buttons and even metal pens are basic hospital items that don’t get a frequent wipe down. Let alone be sterilised.
And like I said, golden staph can live for days on these sort of surfaces.
I hope you’re not a germ-a-phobe, because I might have just scared you away from entering a hospital again!
But there’s a solution.
Since 2010, various hospitals around the world have been testing out different medical surfaces made from copper or a copper alloy.
Chile noticed a reduction in microbes 10 weeks into a 30 week study of using copper surfaces. Everything in the control rooms had copper surfaces, including the pens. And bacteria growth dropped by 90%.
Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and some America hospitals have followed suit as well.
Each country has noticed a significant drop in bacteria levels on copper surfaces.
And golden staph? Well that bacteria barely lasted two hours on a copper surface.
In fact, 99.9% of bacteria was ‘killed’ on copper tops inside two hours.
You see, it turns out that the very thing that makes copper a conductive metal is exactly what makes it an effective bacteria killer.
Basically, the conductive behaviour of the metal short circuits a cells membrane. Once pierced, the cells lose their vital nutrients and water, weakening the cell. As the cell to weaken it dies off.
It’s a ridiculously simple solution for a bug infested hospital.
However, a refit out of all stainless steel surfaces won’t come cheap. The Copper Development Association Inc. reckons a standard 420 single room hospital would cost somewhere between US$3–6 million. However, they also think the once off refit would drastically reduce the number of HAIs and save about $66 million over 10 years.
In spite of the cost savings — and of course life savings — I can’t see many hospitals rushing to deck out the surfaces in copper. It will take time.
This is will be a long term goal for hospitals around the world. It could take over a decade for hospitals to start a refit.
And this slow refit will be good for investors. Because the gradual increase in uses for copper is likely to push the metal’s price higher.
In fact, Robert Friedland, CEO of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd [TSE: IVN], reckons the copper price will be nudging US$10,000 per tonne in a couple of years. It’s currently sitting around US$6,800 per tonne.
My mate Jason Stevenson, resource analyst of Diggers & Drillers, saw Friedland talk at the International Mining and Resource Conferencethis week. Jason came back to the Albert Park office explaining why Friedland was so bullish on copper.
Firstly, Jason tells me is the Indian Prime Minister bold plan to deliver one electric light to each household in India by 2019. Roughly 400 million people in the country have no access to any electricity at all.
In addition, Jason tells me that Prime Minister Modi is going to achieve this by using solar power. As it turns out, alternative energies are 37 times more copper intensive than standard methods.
However, Jason said Friedland reckons all hospitals in America will have copper surfaces at some point. He didn’t know exactly when. But because of the bacteria in hospitals they will switch to copper surfaces sooner rather than later.
And a refit of surfaces would be massive.
For example, there are 5,723 registered hospitals in America. And in those buildings are 920,826 staffed beds.
And this is just in America. Imagine if all global hospitals decided to refit surfaces over a decade. This would put enormous pressure on copper supplies. Ideally boosting the copper price in the meantime.
Given the health dangers and the cost to the economy, hospitals won’t be able to ignore the data on copper surfaces for much longer. And this will be good news for copper stocks.
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