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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: National Medical Devices Policy, 2023
Central idea: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister, approved the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023.
National Medical Devices Policy, 2023
- The Policy, 2023 aims to facilitate an orderly growth of the medical device sector to meet the public health objectives of access, affordability, quality, and innovation.
- The policy lays down a roadmap for accelerated growth of the medical devices sector to achieve various missions.
Objectives
- The policy aims to make the industry competitive, self-reliant, resilient, and innovative.
- It focuses on meeting the healthcare needs of not only India but also the world.
- It aims to accelerate the growth of the medical devices sector.
- It takes a patient-centric approach to meet the evolving healthcare needs of patients.
- It provides support and directions to the medical devices industry to achieve these goals.
Strategies to Promote Medical Device Sector
The medical devices sector will be facilitated and guided through a set of strategies that cover six broad areas of policy interventions:
Key measures and actions |
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| 1. Regulatory Streamlining | Enhance ease of doing research and business, balance patient safety with product innovation, create a Single Window Clearance System for licensing of medical devices, enhance the role of Indian Standards like BIS, and design a coherent pricing regulation. |
| 2. Enabling Infrastructure | Establish and strengthen large medical device parks and clusters equipped with world-class common infrastructure facilities in proximity to economic zones with requisite logistics connectivity. |
| 3. Facilitating R&D and Innovation | Promote research and development in India, establish centres of excellence in academic and research institutions, innovation hubs, and support for startups. |
| 4. Attracting Investments in the Sector | Encourage private investments, funding from venture capitalists, and public-private partnerships, in addition to existing schemes and interventions like Make in India, Ayushman Bharat program, Heal-in-India, and Start-up mission. |
| 5. Human Resources Development | Ensure a steady supply of skilled workforce across the value chain by leveraging available resources in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, supporting dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices in existing institutions, and developing partnerships with foreign academic/industry organizations to develop medical technologies. |
| 6. Brand Positioning and Awareness Creation | Create a dedicated Export Promotion Council for the sector under the Department, initiate studies and projects for learning from best global practices of manufacturing and skilling system, promote more forums to bring together various stakeholders for sharing knowledge, and build strong networks across the sector. |
Medical devices sector in India: A quick recap
- The medical devices sector in India is an essential and integral part of the Indian healthcare sector.
- The sector has contributed significantly to the domestic and global battle against the COVID-19 pandemic through the large-scale production of medical devices & diagnostic kits.
Growth potential in India
- The market size of the medical devices sector in India is estimated to be $11 billion (approximately, ₹ 90,000 Cr) in 2020, and its share in the global medical device market is estimated to be 1.5%.
- The Indian medical devices sector has enormous potential to become self-reliant and contribute towards the goal of universal health care.
Current initiatives in this sector
- The Government of India has initiated the implementation of the PLI Scheme for medical devices.
- It supports for setting up of four Medical devices Parks in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
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