Govt mulls regulating prices of medical devices

Aiming to bring prices of medical devices under a regulatory framework, the government is looking at preparing a national list of essential medical devices and empowering the national drug pricing regulator NPPA for fixation and monitoring of prices of such equipment.
"Once medical devices come under the Department of Pharma, we propose to moot a bill in Parliament for the regulation of medical devices in India. We need a facilitator, we need a regulator for it..."
"..I also feel as we have a National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) similarly we need to have a National List of Essential Medical Devices. Once it is prepared by the Ministry of Health then it can also come under purview of NPPA," Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said.

He was speaking at an event to release the recommendations of the Task Force on Medical Devices sector in India.
Kumar also emphasised on the need for a separate pharma ministry and also a dedicated department of medical devices under the ministry.
"...We require a different department of medical devices. Today medical devices come under purview of which department is hazy, it is not clear, therefore recently I have written a letter to Cabinet Secretary that it should be under Department of Pharma," Kumar said.

"It has been my continuous persuasion that Department of Pharma should become Ministry of Pharma and medical devices could be one of its verticals," he added.

The Minister also said that only 30 per cent of the country's requirement of medical devices is being met through indigenous production and 70 per cent is being imported.
The government is planning to take up several steps such as setting up of medical devices parks to promote manufacturing in the country.