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Medical
equipment, software must be in shipshape, says CII
India needs to step up its efforts in the field
of healthcare by improving the state of its medical equipment,
instruments, devices and software, according to the Confederation of
Indian Industry. The summit, with Germany as partner country,
focussed on issues concerning healthcare with emphasis on the state
of medical equipment, instruments, devices and software vis-a-vis EU
countries and the US. The IT solutions will range from simple
touch-screen information kiosks to simulation of surgeries and the
country has great potential in this field, the CII said in its theme
paper.
There has already been an effective use of
software to control medical devices and for input functionality of
most of the medical equipment. The use of world wide web in the
healthcare industry was another revolutionary factor as it provided
for greater reach and accessibility, it said adding that many of the
country’s existing primary health centres could be upgraded to
provide basic healthcare and awareness information through
electronic media.
Stating that telemedicine also had a large scope in India in
around 560,000 village and towns, it said that this would be very
useful in the field of diagnostics and offer a great opportunity for
software, hardware and sensor technologists to get together and set
up telemedicine centres across the country. The requirement of
testing and standards for medical equipment were specially important
and had to be stringent as the safety of the products was critical
to the recovery and health of a human being, the CII said.
Meanwhile, several different standards had to be
met for exporting medical equipment as the US and EU countries have
laid down detailed standards for the medical equipments and devices
sector, CII said. The paper further emphasised the need to develop
standards and necessary testing facilities in Indian situation.
Alreay there is some progress in this direction and the `new drug’
definition will now include modern devices like syringes and
delivery systems such as skin patches and implants.
[Ref. Times of India, Sept. 1, 1999]
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Becton Dickinson
(I) plans new products
Becton Dickinson India, a leading producer of
medical devices, plans to launch a number of new products and increase
the capacity utilisation of its existing manufacturing facility
without any fresh investment. The company, a 100 percent subsidiary of
the $3.2 billion Becton Dickinson, plans to introduce a number of
products like intravenous and central venous catheters, sample
collection tubes and a unique medical `sharp waste segregation’
system, senior company officials told PTI.
The company has no immediate fresh investment
plans, but would approach the Foreign Investment Promotion Board after
deciding on a new line of products to be produced in India. The Bawla
plant, on a 12 acre plot, has space for a new unit of same size when
required in future. The company also plans to introduce `auto destruct’
syringes which by design ensure they can be used only once, and
`uniject’, a vaccine-syringe combination which would contain the
right dose of vaccine already loaded in a single use disposable
syringe.
Becton Dickinson India had earlier launched a unique sharp waste
segregation system developed specially for the
local market that disinfects and destroys needles and syringes for
their ultimate incineration and claims it is the safest way to dispose
of the hazardous waste. Two other products launched by the company
recently are `Destroclip’, an on-site needle destroyer to prevent
misuse and an alcohol swab that replaes alcohol-soaked cotton to
prepare an area on the skin for injection. The company would also
shortly start producing `vacutainer’, a sample collection tube that
draws out the exact amount of blood needed and has the necessary
reagents already present in the bune.
[Ref. The Times of India, Oct. 12, 1999]
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Pharma, chemicals’
exports expected to treble by 20005
Chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics exports
are likely to treble to Rs.36,675 crore by 2004-05 from Rs.11,797
crore in 1998-99 provided the sectors get necessary policy support
from the government, basic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics
export promotion council (Chemexcil) Chairman Ramu S Deora said in New
Delhi. "The sector has the potential to export three times of the
present exports by 2004-05, but to achieve the target, policy
initiatives such as treatment of deemed exports at par with physical
exports and simplification of taxation system would be needed,"
Chemexcil chief said.
He said, duty entitlement passbook scheme (DPEB) should be made WTO
compliant to avoid imposition of anti-dumping duties and deemed
exports should be treated at par with physical exports. "The
spirit behind the export-friendly policy has to reach the grassroots
levels of implementation. Hence the exporting community, instead of
spending time in exploring potential global markets was compelled to
spend time and energy with the regulatory authorities
whose mindset has not changed from rigid regulation to export
promotion," he said. Stating that octroi duty and sales tax paid
at intermediate stages make products in the chemicals sector costlier,
Mr Deora demanded all raw materials, intermediates and packing
materials used for export production be modvatable and compatible with
WTO norms. Outlining strengths of the sector, Mr Deora said Indian
pharmaceutical industry enjoyed a coveted place among the top 10 drug
manufacturing countries and earned approval of health authorities in
countries like USA, UK, EU among others.
Mr Deora said some developed countries such as USA,
EU and Japan had introduced various trade barriers like anti-dumping,
labour standards and other nontrade related aspects to product their
own interests. "On the international front, government should
undertake intense economic diplomacy in meeting the challenges posed
by newer forms of trade barriers," he said.
[Ref. Times of India, Nov. 22, 1999]
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