NATHEALTH, MTal call for rationalisation of stent pricing

Also put forth certain other recommendations to the government

With recent government notification to bring stents under the country’s drug price control order, the prices of the life saving device would be regulated and capped by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers – Department of Pharmaceuticals, recently notified that the Central Government include Coronary Stents in the Drug Prices Control Order Schedule-1.

In view of the latest notification and its wider implications on healthcare technology providers, Healthcare Federation of India (NATHEALTH) has suggested the government needs to form a Health Technology Assessment Board for standardising and regulating the stent quality in India. The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) has also been proactively and collaboratively working with the authorities in the process on pricing discussions over the past many months.
According to NATHEALTH, almost 80 per cent of the healthcare services in India is provided by private care facilities. As supporters of high quality, safe and reliable patient care, the Federation has expressed its concern that the notification may hamper procedural complexity based choice – both for the treating doctor and the patient.

MTaI believes that a nascent sector like medical devices which accounts for less than two per cent of the overall healthcare sector of India needs support with policies which encourage technology innovation, clinical evidence and strong quality management systems to ensure best patient outcomes. Initiatives like ‘Make in India’ would lose on a major opportunity to generate highly-skilled employment in absence of clear and rational policy framework. A knee-jerk policy framework without accounting for innovation, will not only make India unviable to be a global destination for medical device manufacturing but will also reduce India’s competitiveness to provide world-class and highly advance medical care to patient from India and abroad.