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The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has requested the Central government to recall its order permitting import of pre-owned medical devices, a move which argued to have an adverse impact on the Make in India movement and the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023.
The Association also came down heavily on the Medical Devices Division of India’s leading industry body, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) for supporting the import of the pre-owned medical devices to India.
In a letter to Leena Nandan, secretary to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC), Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator with AiMeD, requested the government’s intervention to stall and recall the Office Memorandum permitting the imports, stating that it is in direct conflict with the Prime Minister’s initiative to promote Make in India through the NMDP 2023.
“Manufacturers of medical electronics and equipment already find it very challenging to compete with imports and if MoEFCC permits import of pre-owned and refurbished medical devices it is virtually impossible to address the 90 per cent import dependency on medical electronics,” he added.
In the case of automobiles and mobile phones, the government did not allow import of pre-owned products and in order to access the lucrative Indian market, the mobile phone and automobile companies had to set up their manufacturing facilities in the country, which resulted in thriving industries which provided employment to lakhs of people.
He averred that India should not be the dumping ground of unsafe pre owned medical equipment and should not expose patients to non calibrated equipment.
Nath later said that the minister of health and family welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya assured the Association that the Office Memorandum will be reviewed and possibly rescinded for the products for which the manufacturing capacity is established in India.
In a press release, the Association criticised FICCI for giving the domestic medical devices manufacturers a body blow by supporting the imports.
“Nothing could have been worse than what FICCI Medical Devices Division is doing at the behest of MNCs lobby. Much to our dismay and disappointment, FICCI Medical Devices Division is working against the interest of domestic medical devices manufacturers. Its 'Un-make in India' campaign amounts to bulldozing the Make in India dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Nath.
The Office Memorandum is a regressive step that has confused the investors who have been putting up manufacturing capacity in the last few years.
Gaurav Agarwal, managing director, Innvolution Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. said that the utilization of refurbished equipment under the guise of C-arms and advanced X-ray systems for performing catheterization procedures is both misleading and potentially hazardous.
“Against the need of 500 cath labs a year to serve the Indian population, Indian manufacturers has the capacity to manufacture more than 600 indigenized cath labs which play a critical role in diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases, and it is essential that these facilities meet the highest standards of quality, reliability, and patient safety,” he said, adding that by importing refurbished equipment, we miss the opportunity to nurture a robust ecosystem of innovation, research, and development in the medical technology sector.
Suresh Vazirani, chairman of India's largest IVD company, Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd said, “The use of old, discarded medical equipment can not only be dangerous for the lives of our fellow Indians but it will destroy our PM Modi's dream of making India Atma Nirbhar in medical technology.”
“India's retrograde policy will allow Western countries to ship all old equipment to India and thereby prevent their own countries from getting environmentally polluted with discarded pollutants in medical equipment,” Suresh Vazirani further added.
He said that Indian medical devices manufacturers not only meet the domestic demands but also export equipment to over 100 countries across the world, meeting international standards and safety certification.
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