Up R&D in medical sector

In a bid to boost technology in healthcare, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, (CSIR) invited players in the medical technology sector to utilise the Research and Development (R&D) platform for innovation and research, HT reports.

In a bid to boost technology in healthcare, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, (CSIR) invited players in the medical technology sector to utilise the Research and Development (R&D) platform for innovation and research.

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“The government has proposed to develop 37 R&D labs across India. It is likely to improve health technology and infrastructure,” said Dr Samir K Brahmachari addressing the fifth Medical Technology Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“Achieving affordable healthcare is a key action area highlighted in the 10-year CSIR plan. Early detection of disease by the use of modern technology will increase the survival rate and reduce the treatment cost considerably,” said Brahmachari.

“While our pharma sector has been making considerable progress, our technology still has a long way to go,” said Dr Arun Kumar Panda, joint secretary, ministry of health and family welfare.

Panda emphasised on the government’s intention to work on improving the country’s health infrastructure. “We plan to increase spending on healthcare infrastructure higher than the present 1.1%,” he added.

D Raghavan, conference chairman and sector CEO (Healthcare), Siemens Ltd, also pointed out that the growth of insurance penetration from 25% in 2011 to 35% in 2016 would add another 120 million healthcare seekers.

“Apart from technology, it is important to work on training doctors,” said Mark Rooney, vice-president and MD, Covidien Healthcare India, adding that the company is coming up with a training centre in Hyderabad to train doctors.