"There is a need for appropriate and applicable health care technology in India. Our medical devices industry is underinvested and heavily import-driven at present. But with the current 'Make in India' campaign, there is a huge opportunity for growth and expansion of the medical device industry. This would highly improve the access of essential medical devices and health care technology to patients in India," WHO's India Representative Nata Menabde said in a Health Ministry statement.
Menabde was one of several officials who announced the National Health Systems Resource Center (NHSRC) would become the WHO collaborating centre for Priority Medical Devices and Health Technology Policy. This is the first WHO collaborating centre in South East Asia region, the Health Ministry statement said.
Menabde also handed over designation of the WHO collaborating centre commencement at NHSRC to Health secretary B.P. Sharma.
Noting that prioritizing medical devices and health technology in the country is an "important agenda" item, Sharma said it is critical to have the specifications in place for medical devices and equipment that already are procured and used in the system.
"There is also need for dedicated medical devices testing laboratories to ensure the safety and efficacy of these devices," he said.
The division of healthcare technology and innovation at NHSRC has been working in the area of health technologies and related policy interface.
Its works includes framing technical specifications for technologies procured under National Health Mission, best practices for technology life-cycle management and maintenance, secretariat for assessment, and the uptake of innovations into public health systems among others, the statement said.