IMA & Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry (AIMED) signs MOU

‘DISPOVAN-ity’ gets a Boost from Doctors’ Body.

New Delhi, April 27:  Dispovan, a ‘made in India’ syringe injects hope that Indian medical devices, much cheaper, can give foreign multinational majors a run for their money, provided the central government takes the policy decisions to buttress ‘Make In India’

Dispovan is unmistakably a market leader capturing around 70 percent domestic share. Dispovan is one device the Indian device industry can deservedly be proud of.

But it is a solitary Indian device success story. Otherwise, Indian medical devices industry scenario is quite moribund and depressive in the face of mighty multinationals.

In the new found confidence triggered by ‘Make in India’ credo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian Medical devices industry has made bold to hard sell its ability to attain global standard of quality, yet much much cheaper than imported products. Hence, Indian Medical devices Industry has signed an MOU with Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest body of Indian allopath doctors to ensure their products’ endorsement by doctors.

Doctors’ endorsement is the key in promoting Indian medical devices. In the absence of it, what happens to an Indian medical device can be exemplified by the demise of ‘dog cheap’ Kalam Raju stent, a device to open clogged coronary artery. This stent, costing merely 8 thousand, was manufactured by DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) at the behest of former iconic President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam. No doctor promoted this stent. This is what is happening mostly with Indian medical device products.

Rajiv Nath, AIMED coordinator, pictured the depressing and ailing Indian medical device industry scenario thus- ‘about 5000 medical device companies have died so far, 700 device makers which are in the market are mere survivors. Mortality rate of Indian medical device companies is over 50 percent.  There is only one success story that of Dispovan, which we want to be rule rather than exception.’

Rajiv Nath further says, ‘In India, the medical device market size is 10 billion dollar (Rs.60 thousand crores ) and 70 percent medical devices are imported. The import bill amounts to about Rs. 22 thousand crores.’

IMA has taken upon itself to sensitize Indian doctors to endorse Indian medical devices to make ‘Make in India’ campaign  a reality and save Indian patients from being fleeced by foreign multinational companies. IMA will  lobby with the ‘make in India’ fame government to put such riders as would make it incumbent upon patients to use Indian medical devices for getting medical bills  reimbursement. Dr. K. K. Aggarwal will soon meet Arun Jately, the finance minister, to this end.

Indian medical devices industry hopes to get a shot in arm in the midst of prevailing ‘Make in India’ mood of PM Modi, though IMA has ‘manufactured’ its own slogans ‘Cure in India’ and ‘Buy Indian’.   ‘Made in India’ medical Devices may have one last chance in the present scenario of hope. If IMA and AIMED’s resolve to hard sell Indian medical devices gets steam, multinationals may have tough time saving their market share from dwindling.

After signing MOU on April 24, Dr. K. K. Aggarwal said, ‘MOU has been signed to give big push to manufacturing and innovation within India. The initiatives will focus on building product credibility, affordability and to enhance user confidence both domestically and internationally. This initiative could become quite a game changer.

Dr Aggarwal further says, ‘ Under the scheme of things, IMA will encourage medical fraternity to go ‘One Step beyond Endorsement’ for India manufactured medical devices which would be approved by IMA based on stringent internationally accepted quality parameters.

As per the MoU, IMA and AIMED will establish joint mechanism to promote Indian medical device industry and under their ‘Cure in India’ and “Buy Indian” initiatives will give users and consumers access to ‘IMA preferred Brands of Safe Indian Medical Devices’ that are affordable.

Exuding hope, Rajiv Nath says, ‘This MoU will give a big push to manufacturing and innovation in Indian medical device industry while promoting Indian healthcare sector as a whole. This initiative will also help reduce country’s huge import dependency in medical device sector while encouraging exports.’

‘IMA is of the view that for those consumables and devices which are manufactured in India and approved by appropriate authorities, no reimbursement should be given to foreign devices’, said Dr Aggarwal. Under the joint mechanism, both Associations will soon roll out promotional campaigns to achieve the objectives of this MoU.’

The need to get certification for quality is also a big road block in the way of Indian medical devices. FDA and EU certification are hard to get. Anil Jauhri, CEO, National Accreditation Board for certification bodies belonging to Quality Council of India, said, ‘we would do away with the need to get foreign certification. Our quality evaluating regimen is of global standard.’