“Medical Device Policy is a progressive step in propelling the country towards Atmanirbharta in the heavily import dependent Medical Device Sector”, Nath added
Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) addressing a virtual press conference today while applauding the Prime Minister for the National Medical Devices Policy said “We thank The Honourable Prime Minister & The Minister of Chemical & Fertiliser & Health as well as the Department of Pharmaceuticals in drafting and coming out with this policy to make an Atmanirbhar Bharat that not only helps its own citizens but makes affordable high quality and safe medical devices accessible to the world.”
“It’s an excellent and a great start! Many points are a broad stroke and not clearly spelled out but that’s expected in a Policy to give much needed direction to over 20 stakeholder ministries and departments.”
“We hope for speedy implementation of the policy by actionable tasks as have been sought by the Parliamentary Health Committee & AiMeD to realise the Vision & Mission stated in the policy. The Parliament Committee had recommended a separate Law, Separate department, tariff correction and price control and other measures which if implemented will give direct benefit to consumer and industry. If the government acts like a doctor, the patient will not remain in the ICU but will step out healthy and laughing from the ward itself”, added Nath.
Dr GSK Velu, Chairman & Managing Director, Trivitron & Jt Coordinator IVD (Diagnostic Vertical Group) AiMed said “It is heartening to see the release of Medical Devices policy by the Govt. We do hope this gives the necessary impetus to reduce import dependency in the Medical Devices sector and make India a global medical device manufacturing destination. If implemented along with preference for buying locally made products, I am sure the Medical Devices sector will grow like the Pharmaceuticals industry in the next 10 – 15 years’ time frame.”
Ganesh Sabat, CEO, Sahajanand Medical Technologies which is an AIMED member company and a market leader in cardiovascular implants said, “The domestic industry is optimistic that together in a PPP mode, we would be able to create an ecosystem for the holistic growth of overall healthcare industry in India, make India self-sufficient, reduce import dependency to a large extent, expand both markets and exports, where one can hope to see exponential growth in the coming years to achieve the vision 2047.
All in all, from what’s available so far, the policy is promising and is a significant step towards achieving the vision of making quality healthcare accessible to all. I am confident that this policy will greatly benefit our country in achieving ‘Healthcare for All’.”
Nath also pointed out a concern that the consumer should need to benefit from this policy. So far there is no restriction or capping on the MRP prices of medical devices from the government. Especially some private hospitals give the brand they want to the consumer on their own free will. In this sometimes, some hospitals are less concerned of the affordability needs of the patient and more concerned for their profit. They consume high MRP goods instead of low-cost options. Because of this, the manufacturer or importer of India is tied up in a system of market operating with artificially inflated MRP labelled on the Device. We have been seeking a system whereby ethical manufacturers and importers can offer low priced MRP products and still they are able to sell. We have been seeking MRP of imports to be monitored and compared with imports landed prices and steps taken to control when found irrationally excessive.
He says we are optimistic with the introduction of this policy, prices will hopefully be monitored, and these things will be controlled. This will help reduce the maximum retail price of any device and the consumer will be able to get goods at lower prices. The manufacturer will also benefit, as happened after capping the price of stents. Make in India has grown a lot in stents. Imports have reduced and patients have also benefited.
The Indian Medical Devices industry expects the following in the policy:
- Regulations should be streamlined. There should be a separate law for this.
- The second recommendation is to increase investment but the question is how will the investment be? There is a recommendation for tariff correction.
- Along with investment, there should be R&D-innovation. AiMeD recommends that the law that treats manufacturers as criminals should not be applicable and like in Europe, Canada, Japan, Brazil etc there should be a separate law. This will give developers and manufacturers the freedom to make innovative products.
- Academic courses should be improved and regulators and professionals up-skilled.
- The Export Promotion Council should be made functional asap and used for promoting overseas Brand India.
“Medical Device Policy is a progressive step in propelling the country towards Atmanirbharta in the heavily import dependent Medical Device Sector. This will also fuel manufacturing in India and will help realise the goal of the Medical device industry reaching $50 Billion in the country by 2025.” said Gaurav Aggarwal, Managing Director, Innvolution Imaging Technologies Pvt Ltd & Jt Coordinator EVG (Electronics Vertical Group) AiMeD.
“We are more than hopeful that the policy will help boost local manufacturing, help traders and importers to start investing in putting up factories and end the 70-80 per cent import dependency forced upon India and the ever-rising import bill which last year shot up by a steep 41 per cent to over Rs 63000 Cr and make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for common masses worldwide”, Nath further added.