The Hindu Business Line : Call to increase domestic production of diagnostic devices for affordable healthcare

Industry & Economy - Medical & Surgical Equipments
States - Andhra Pradesh
Call to increase domestic production of diagnostic devices for affordable healthcare

P.V. Sivakumar

Focus on healthcare: (from left) Mr K.V. Kamath, Chairman of ICICI Bank, looks on as Mr K. Rosaiah, Chief Minister, receives a momento from Mr N. Vaghul, Chairman of International Knowledge Parks, at the International Knowledge Millennium Conference in Hyderabad on Monday. —

Our Bureau

Hyderabad Nov. 9 The two-day International Knowledge Millennium Conference began here on Monday, with a call to the healthcare industry to increase domestic production of equipments so as to increase affordability of healthcare. The conference was inaugurated by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah.

It was noted at the conference that the higher costs of healthcare emanate from imported equipment. “Presently, about 70 per cent of the medical devices and equipment are imported. India has proven capabilities in manufacturing, which has attracted multinational companies such as GE to set up base here. The domestic manufacturing either by multinational companies having Indian bases or Indian companies will spur innovation suited to local needs,” a background paper for the conference pointed out.

It said the Indian healthcare industry is growing at rapid pace and is expected to become a $280 billion industry by 2022, while Indian healthcare market is currently estimated at $35 billion and expected to reach $75 billion by 2012.

The medical equipment market is witnessing a steady growth and it is critical that India formulates a comprehensive regulation in this field. “Even (the) Bureau of Indian Standards does not take care of medical devices and this has allowed free flow of medical devices in India, pushing quality and safety to the background,” the report said.

Inaugurating the conference, Mr Rosaiah said the State Government has identified bio-technology as a major growth engine. “India and Andhra Pradesh have a long tradition of diagnosis and product development in traditional arts and science of medicine. Ayurveda and Unani and the innovation made by the physicians in such systems are examples of the contributions in our country to improving healthcare,” he pointed out.

Innovation

Mr K.V. Kamath, Chairman of ICICI Bank, said innovation could be evolutionary (incremental advances in technology and processes) or revolutionary (discontinuous, disruptive and leading to behavioural change).

Stating that education is the key for innovation, Mr Kamath said estimates indicated that attendance rates in the age of 5-14 dropped by nearly half and by 86 per cent after the age of 15 years.

“An innovative approach needs to be adopted to identify domains that have major job potential and codify knowledge into defined employable skills. We should use technology to deliver knowledge and skills through a public-private partnership mode,” he said.

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