Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked the pharmaceuticals and medical equipment manufacturing industry to keep up their contribution towards making India self-reliant in health and become a reliable global player.

“No doubt all of you have made the nation proud and showed to the world that India can be a trusted partner in trade,” Goyal said talking about the performance of the medical industry during the Covid-19 crisis on Thursday. The Minister was speaking at a CII conference on health.

Goyal said that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision shared on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the medical community, especially medical equipment manufacturers, had a particular mention. This was not just in terms of its success in ramping up its capacities to meet the present needs during the Covid-19 crisis but also for the role it would play in the future when the health care needs of the nation is upgraded and spending increased, the Minister added.

Tech focus

He said that the latest technology including 3-G, 4-G, AI and data analytics will be used to ensure quality health care for all Indians.

The Covid-19 period has been a learning period for the industry and it has taught us that being self-reliant is important if we want to protect our people, he said.

“Our pharmaceutical industry will evolve from the realisation that Covid-19 has brought upon us,” he said.

During the ongoing health crisis so far, our pharmaceutical industry has persevered to ensure adequate supply of medicines not only for India but the world, the Minister said.

“The medical equipment industry laboured to provide equipment needed during pandemic. Ventilator is very big example,” he added.

Goyal added that the industry has to move on from being the ‘pharmacy of the world’ to the ‘hospital of the world’ providing for all health care needs.

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