Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) applauded and thanked DIPP (Dept of Industry Policy and Promotion) for the great initiative of the creation of the much needed National Medical Devices Promotion Council which will provide an impetus and boost Indian Medical Devices manufacturing industry and support the Make in India impetus for Medical Devices in India. 

Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry has officially announced the establishment of the National Medical Devices Promotion Council at World Health Organisation's global conference on medical devices in Visakhapatnam. He also announced establishing a Medical Devices Design Centre and assured as exports picks up we will also establish a Medical Devices Exports Promotion Council.  

It’s been more than Thirteen years since a direction was given to the Indian health authorities to have a comprehensive framework for medical devices. Such concerns recently got amplified on a global scale following an investigation into medical devices by media entities. The reportage revealed the opaqueness around this industry. 

Nath said “We are also most grateful to AMTZ- Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone and Andhra Pradesh Govt. led by the leadership of Shri Chandra Babu Naidu for offering to host the prestigious WHO Global Conference on Medical Devices.” 

The Prime objectives of the National Medical Devices Promotion Council are: 

• Act as a facilitating and promotion & developmental body for the Indian Medical Devices Industry
• Hold periodic seminars, workshops  to deliberate on various parameters for inclusion in the industrial and trade policies in medical devices
• Identify redundant processes and render technical assistance to the agencies/departments concerned inorder to simplify the approval processes involved in medical device industry promotion and development
• Enable entry of emerging interventions and support certifications for manufacturers to reach levels of global trade norms and lead India to an export driven market in the sector
• Support dissemination and documentation of international norms and standards for medical devices, by capturing the best practices in the global market and facilitate domestic manufacturers to rise to international level of understanding of regulatory and non regulatory needs of the industry
• Drive a robust and dynamic Preferential Market Access  (PMA) policy, by identifying the strengths of the Indian manufacturers and discouraging unfair trade practices in import; while ensuring pro-active monitoring of public procurement notices across Indian to ensure compliance with PMA guidelines of DIPP/DoP
• Undertake validation of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and other such entities within MDI sector, which add value to the industry strength in manufacturing to gain foothold for new entrants
• Make recommendations to government based on industry feedback and global practices on policy and process interventions to strengthen the medical technology sector including trade interventions for related markets

Nath further pointed out that the way Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) was successful in promoting the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, we are similarly hopeful that Medical Devices Development Council will help realise our vision for India to be among the Top 5 Medical Devices manufacturing hubs worldwide as the Council will spearhead the policy needs to accelerate the manufacturing of medical devices in India and end the 70-90% import dependence forced upon us and an import bill of over Rs 31, 000 crore. The Indian market at retail and institutional level is estimated to be at over Rs. 70000 Cr (10 Billion $). 

“We are glad Govt. is taking serious steps to make India a global robust hub for medical devices manufacturing and fulfilling Govt’s ambitious mission of making quality healthcare affordable for common masses” concluded Mr. Rajiv Nath.