AIMED applauds DIPP on establishing the much awaited NMDPC

Our vision for India to be among the top  5  medical devices manufacturing  hubs  worldwide

Rajiv  Nath, Forum Coordinator,  Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) applauded  and thanked  DIPP (Department 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 today  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 .

Nath  said “We are delighted that  DIPP has decided  to  strengthen the  Indian  medical devices sector by  facilitating domestic  manufacturers to rise to international level  and discouraging unfair trade practices in import and  lead India to an export driven market in the sector  by enabling the establishment of a National Medical Devices Promotion Council. AIMED   had been seeking this for quite some time and the timing was perfect considering the WHO Global Conference on medical devices was hosted by India from Decmber 13-15, 2018 in Vishakhpatnam.”

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.

“We do acknowledge the role played by various news articles in the last few days that  has  helped to bring focus to this long neglected Indian medical devices sector and help accelerate the process of establishing Medical Devices Development Council by DIPP. We wholeheartedly thank Secretary DIPP, Ramesh Abhishek  for  responding to  the  needs  of Indian medical devices industry” added Nath.

Nath said “We are also most grateful to AMTZ- Andhra Pradesh  MedTech  Zone  and Andhra Pradesh governemnt led by the leadership of 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 and 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  in order 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 per cent import dependence forced upon us and an  import bill of over ₹ 31, 000  crores.  The Indian market at retail and institutional level is estimated to be at over  ₹ 70000 crores ( $ 10 Billion).

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