|
CM Promises Land For India’s First Medical
Devices Park In India
 Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel on Wednesday agreed to
provide land in the state for country’s first medical devices park. She was
speaking during the stone-laying function of the permanent campus of National
Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) at Gandhinagar.
Earlier in his address, Union minister of chemical and
fertilizers Ananth Kumar announced that his ministry is planning to set up
country’s first medical devices park in Gujarat. “We will set up the medical
devices park if chief minister Anandiben Patel allots us land for the same,” he
said.
“We are ready to give land for the proposed park. The central
government can send officials for land survey and, later, we can decide on the
area for the land. We will give all possible help to the Centre,” said the CM.
Ananth Kumar said India is exporting medicines to
approximately 200 countries but we are still dependent on other countries for
medical devices.
“We want to make India self sufficient in the field of
medical sufficient in the field of medical devices. The medical devices park
will have a `Centre of Excellence’ where research for medical devices will be
conducted,” said Kumar. “The Centre is planning to expand the Central Institute
of Plastic Engineering and Technology campus at Sanand, soon after it receives
additional land from the state government. Around 12,000 students will get
training in plastic engineering following the expansion of CIPET,” said Kumar.
The Union minister also promised a Pharma Park in the state.
(Ref:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Arbitary MRP Printing On Imported
Medical Devices Raising Healthcare Cost
Association of Indian Medical Device Manufacturers (AIMED),
has expressed grave concern over the raging malpractice of arbitrary MRP
printing on imported medical devices leading to fleecing of unsuspecting Indian
consumers. This is forcing Indian manufacturers to respond similarly raising the
overall healthcare cost in the country.
Industry experts want government to curb this malpractice and
put in place a transparent and stringent MRP regime for imported goods so that
average Indian consumers are not fleeced and retail price parity between
domestically produced medical devices and imported products is maintained. and
will help bring down healthcare costs in the country.
Government has a duty to protect the Indian patients from
undue enrichment by unscrupulous traders and manufacturers whereby retail prices
go up when ex factory prices are going down and to ensure that there is level
playing field between domestically produced medical goods and imported ones,”
said Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator of Association of Indian Medical Device
Manufacturers.
Nathadded,”The current system helps in maintaining huge price
disparity of imported and Indian goods as Indian manufactures can’t increase
their MRP by over 10% for those items covered under drug regulation like stents.
Consumers can’t access these lower cost devices as hospital and retailers may
not stock these lower priced devices. So we have a healthcare system thriving on
higher costs on pretext of US FDA approved or American Origin and resultant high
prices to consumers”.
Bejon Misra a consumer policy expert and also the Founder of
the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) India Initiative, explained that
imported medical devices like many other items are imported in bulk and the duty
is also paid on bulk and importers claim these are not consumer goods but for
hospital use. The government and customs must ensure that all individually
packed units for sale of any medical device - big or small even if X-ray
machine, should have the MRP preprinted on the unit pack. There needs to be an
import duty of at least 1% on this MRP and the bill of entry and invoice should
have the transaction price per unit as well as the MRP per unit to ensure no
malpractices of switching of labels post import are adopted by the Indian
importers. Currently importers pay tax on transaction invoice value and not on
basis of the MRP.
Gurmit Singh Chugh MD of Translumina Therapeutics, an
indigenous stent manufacturer added, “The scenario of Indian manufacturers
making high-end medical devices like drug eluting stents is extremely
discouraging. We are concerned with the discriminatory pricing policies in this
sector which creates an impression that anything “American” should have higher
pricing and higher reimbursements. It is important for various stakeholders to
be aware that a medicinal and medical product need to be evaluated on the basis
of quality and the extent of clinical trials performed. However, the patients
are impressed by the hospitals to go for American products which limits the
ability of Indian manufacturers to offer their products at much lower cost to
the patients in India”.
(Ref:
http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=91878&sid=1 )
|
