New law for regulating medical devices, technologies

So far, regulatory requirements for the sector come under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.

Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Arun Kumar Panda, while addressing the 5th Medical Technology Conference organized by CII here today, said the new law on medical devices and technologies will help regulate the use of such devices.

Panda also requested the industry representatives to identify the areas in which the government could help them realise their growth potential and further healthcare goals. He also said the 12th Plan was likely to see a considerable increase in healthcare spending and upgradation of health infrastructure.

Earlier, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Samir K Brahmachari invited players in the medical technology sector to utilise the R&D platform being developed by the government for innovation and research in biomedical instrumentation.

Achieving affordable healthcare through instrumentation was a key action area in the 10-year CSIR roadmap recently presented to the Prime Minister, he said, adding that early detection of disease by use of new technologies increases survival rate and reduces treatment cost considerably.

Conference Chairman and Sector CEO (Healthcare) of Siemens D Raghavan said 120 million healthcare seekers will be added by 2016 with growth of insurance sector.