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The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 will fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and India's aspirations to be self-reliant with regard to medical devices, said a top official of Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD).

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Medical Devices Policy, 2023.

"We congratulate the Government wholeheartedly for approving the much-needed, long awaited direction we had sought since the initial draft policy of June 2014 for a National Medical Devices Policy," Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMeD said.

"At AiMeD we are delighted with the cabinet decision of announcing a Medical Devices Policy to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and & India's aspirations to be not only Atmanirbhar Bharat but also a global key top five suppliers of medical devices worldwide - this was long awaited direction we had sought since initial draft policy of June 2014," Nath told IANS.

Nath said the industry is hopeful that the policy details will help boost local manufacturing, help traders and importers to start investing in putting up factories and end the 70-80 per cent import dependency forced upon India and the ever-rising import bill which last year shot up by a steep 41 per cent to over Rs 63,000 crore and make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for common masses worldwide.

He said during the Covid pandemic it was felt the need for a policy to align various government ministries and departments and even the Healthcare Parliamentary Committee recommended to the government to take specific steps to promote Make in India of Medical Devices.

"We hope AiMeD's and the Parliamentary Committee's recommendations are reflected in the policy details and we will see this neglected sector flourish finally as has the mobile phones & toy sector recently with right policy support," Nath added.

The policy aims to place the medical devices on an accelerated growth path with a patient-centric approach to meet the evolving healthcare needs of patients, said Dr. Rajiv Chhibber, Vice President, Sahajanand Medical Technologies Ltd & Joint Coordinator, Government Affairs, AiMeD.

Chhibber also said, the National Medical Policy is also a leap forward to fulfil Modi's vision to have affordable, accessible and innovative solutions towards healthcare, making India Atmanirbhar and a Global MedTech hub, achieving the Vision 2047 aimed at Universal Healthcare for All.