A separate ministry for pharma???
Union Minister for Chemicals &
Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar today said that he has been
advocating the setting up of a separate Ministry for Pharmaceutical and Medical
devices as it is a sunrise industry and growing very fast. He said a task force
will be set up to discuss various issues with different industry associations.
Promotion and Regulation should go hand in
hand for medical devices sector to provide affordable health care to the poor,
he said speaking at the 9th Medical Technology Conference in here
today.
The Minister stressed that regulation is
required in the medical devices sector to check profit and money making so as
to facilitate providing adequate medical facilities to the poor.
He said cardiac stents have already been
included in the National List of Essential Medicines and will soon come under
the DPCO. He said National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority will hold
consultation with stakeholders before taking further action.
The Minister said that the Government is taking
several steps to promote the medical devices sector in the country. The
inverted duty structure has been set right.
Ananth Kumar said GST will further bring down
the taxation in the sector by almost 12 per cent. He said that the first
Medical Technology Park has already been set up in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra
Pradesh with an investment of Rs. 1200 crore.
Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana and Maharashtra have also
shown interest in setting up such parks and Government of India is ready to
support these efforts.
He said setting up of these parks can bring
down the manufacturing cost by another 30 per cent and make Indian Medical
technology sector globally competitive , due to pooling of common facilities.
Ananth Kumar called upon the medical devices manufacturers
to undertake research and innovation, and not confine themselves to reverse
engineering or re-engineering. He stressed on customised medical devices for
Indian conditions and requirements.
He said that industry should strive to be a
source for not only Indian requirements but also cater to rest of Asia and
Africa.
He said the industry’s demand of legislation
for medical technology is a good idea but it requires brainstorming. Ananth
Kumar said a task force will be set up to discuss various issues with different
industry associations.
The Minister said that he has been advocating
the setting up of a separate Ministry for Pharmaceutical and Medical devices as
it is a sunrise industry and growing very fast.
He emphasised on 3As – Authenticity
(Quality), Availability and Affordability. The Minister said he is willing to
take up the issues of refurbished medical equipment and extended warranty with
Environment Ministry and Finance Ministry.
Indian Medical Technology Sector is pegged at
about US $ 5.5 billion contributing to about 7 to 8 per cent of the healthcare
spent in India. It is placed 20th in the global ranking and 4th in Asia.
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