a)    Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission at the Inaugural Session, called for a directed focus on the increased delivery of healthcare outcomes by the Medical Technology industry. He also stated that the 12th Plan shall incorporate health and manufacturing as priority areas. He stressed upon the need for the increased delivery of quality, low cost healthcare services to the populace.

b)    Dr. Naresh Trehan Chairman, CII National Committee on Healthcare at the Inaugural Session, addressed the importance of understanding the specific requirements of healthcare technology in India, and the need for innovations that delivered better outcomes as opposed to simply meeting the highest international standards. He stated that the Indian Medical Technology industry was catering to a population of over 1.2 billion people, and therefore held immense potential as a market. He also said that support needed to be given to indigenous manufacturers in addressing the issues of quality and in narrowing the technology gap.

c)     Dr. Surinder Singh, Drug Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (C.D.S.O.) at the Session 1 “Meet the Regulator”, stated that the CDSO had submitted an extensive proposal to the Planning Commission that planned to overhaul the current regulatory framework for Medical Technology in the country. The CDSO hopes to constitute an independent regulatory authority that would function at the central as well at the state level. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been proposed for the capacity building of manpower. Five state of the art laboratories for the testing of devices are slated to be set up.

d)     Mr. Gajendra Haldea, Adviser to the DCH (Infrastructure), Planning Commission at the Session 3 “Medical Technology –Greater Access for Better Health Care”, stated that the patient care pathways needed to be created through the initiation of Public Private Partnerships with corporations and also announced plans for the introduction of incentives to encourage social entrepreneurship in medical innovation.

e)     Mr. B.S.Ganesh Babu, Head IT, Aravind Eye Care System at the Session 3 “Medical Technology –Greater Access for Better Health Care”, stated that the effective use of technologies could bring a host of benefits including reduction of cost of care, increased access, the more efficient use of scarce resources, increasing health seeking behavior among patients and a greater access to expert medical health professionals from remote locations. 

f)      Mr. Dilip Chenoy, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Skill Development Commission at the Session 4 “Skills and Education for Medical Technology”, called for the closing of the gap between the demand and supply of skilled manpower and an alignment of the training modules imparted in skill development institutes with the specific requirements of the industry.

g)     Dr. Kanav Kahol, Team Leader, Division of Affordable Health Technologies, Public Health Foundation of India at the Session 4 “Skills and Education for Medical Technology” highlighted the potential of Simulation Technology and said it was possible to create technologies, tailor made to the Indian context so as to considerably reduce costs, while delivering higher quality services.

h)    The Conference had close to 200 participants from the industry who felt that interaction had served as a platform for providing latest happening on the Medical Sector.

The Indian Medical Technology industry has taken impressive strides in recent years. Growing at a CAGR of 15.6%, the size of the industry is expected to touch $14 billion by 2020 from current levels of $ 3 billion. Besides basic economic fundamentals, a key growth driver is the increase in the overall healthcare industry, which in turn is driven by an increased burden of lifestyle diseases, higher public spending, private investments in healthcare and increased penetration of health insurance.

Industry reports suggest that the epicenter of technology and innovation is shifting towards emerging economies like India and China. Engineering excellence, cost-effective labour, increasing emphasis on intellectual property rights, easier accessibility to the Asian markets and a fast growing domestic market, makes India an ideal manufacturing base and the potential of becoming a global provider of medical devices.

Almost equal in importance as the availability of skilled manpower, medical technology has graduated from a high cost solution available to a smaller strata of the society to being a necessity for providing equitable healthcare services to all. A primary determinant of the level of care to be provided to a patient and in controlling morbidity levels, the role of medical technology is augmented in scaling the reach of healthcare delivery and the need for more affordable and accessible technology solutions has encouraged greater support for domestic manufacturing and innovations in this field.

The industry is hence at a critical inflexion point but the key question is – are we ready for the next big leap? The 4^th Medical Technology conference hence aimed at addressing some of the pressing issues that may have an impact on the next wave of growth:

·        What are the impediments to local manufacturing of devices and reduced dependence on imports?

·        Are we geared up with the manpower to unlock the value of technological innovation? How do we plan forward to avoid a technical resource gap?

·        Are we innovating in the right direction – to create more affordable and accessible solutions?

·        Have we harnessed telemedicine sufficiently? What technology and other solutions can drive accessibility and what factors impact their implementation.

·        What role can regulators play in the growth? If Health insurance is deemed a key growth driver, what can be done to enhance its penetration?

While solutions to most of these questions are evolving and are probably not short term in nature, our early recognition of these could help the growth trajectory of the industry in the long term.

The Conference had plenary sessions covering:

a.     Meet the Regulator.

b.    Enabling Domestic Manufacturing for our Growing Healthcare Needs.

c.     Medical Technology – Greater Access for Better Healthcare.

d.    Skills and Education for Medical Technology.

e.     Code of Conduct for Medical Technology Industry.

The well attended conference attracted speakers of repute. Some of the eminent speakers were from Sushrut Adler Group, Siemens Ltd, Medanta - The Medicity, Trivitron Group of Companies, Sushrut Adler Group, KPMG India Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical India, Max Healthcare Institute Ltd, AIIMS and Siemens Ltd.

Siemens, Abbot and KPMG were the sponsors of the conference.