India producing medical devices at 1/3rd world price: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said India is among the top five countries in the world manufacturing life-saving high-risk medical devices but the cost of our devices is about one-third of those manufactured by the other four countries.

Addressing the faculty and students after inaugurating the Combined Devices Block at Chitra Tribunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology here, Singh said, "technologies developed by the Institute like the artificial heart valve, hydrocephalus shunt, oxygenator and drug eluting Intra uterine device are being manufactured in three to four countries like USA, Japan, Brazil and China," said a press release by Ministry of Science & Technology.

Singh said the world-class medical devices made indigenously are available to Indian patients at approximately one-fourth to the one-third price of their imported counterparts. He underlined that this reflects the Atmanirbhar vision of PM Modi to become self-reliant in medical devices as well as medical management, added the press release.

Singh pointed out that it was Prime Minister Modi, who notified Medical Devices Rules in 2017 in conformity with the Global Harmonisation Task Force (GHTF) framework and conform to best international practices. The new rules seek to remove regulatory bottlenecks to make in India and facilitate ease of doing business while ensuring the availability of better medical devices for patient care and safety.

Jitendra Singh said, R & D for Ease of Living can become successful, only if the private industry becomes an equal stakeholder and invests in the project from the beginning.

He said this is also true for sustainable StartUps to have equal stakes in both the Public and Private sectors. He gave the example of the Technology Development Board of DST and Bharat Biotech forming a Rs 400 crore Corpus Fund with an equal contribution by both to support Startups in vaccine manufacturing and other medical ventures. The Minister pointed out that the DNA vaccine produced by the Department of Biotechnology was later used effectively by the private sector and this is the essence of the Integrated Approach.

Singh informed the medical fraternity that only yesterday, the Finland Minister of Education and Culture, Petri Honkonen, who called on him was full of praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and also the efforts of the Union Government of India in ensuring the development of vaccines and vaccination for all the countrymen.

The Finnish Minister said, while his country with 5 Million people fought the pandemic, India with 130 crore people showed the way to the world in its fight against COVID-19 and also helped many countries, particularly the neighbours with vaccines.