The FICCI Medical Electronics Forum (MEF) has outlined a 13-fold strategy to shape the future of the medical electronics fraternity in India, with an aim to increase value generation for all stakeholders, focussed on reaching all sections of the population cost effectively.

According to A Vaidish, managing director, Johnson & Johnson Medical India, who chaired the event the FICCI MEF has identified the key trends that are expected to drive the medical electronics industry. These include growth in India’s GDP at 7 to 8 per cent per annum and growth in healthcare industry at 14 per cent a year, low per capita spending on medical devices ($2.billion medical device market versus a population of 1.3 billion), tiered segmented growth, urbanisation, increasing medical insurance coverage and the challenge of cashless health insurance, rising quality standards, high penetration of mobile telephony and underlined the need for skilled healthcare manpower.

The FICCI MEF calls for creating an environment for local manufacturing and R&D, increase in healthcare capacity, development of new healthcare models involving local dynamics like Ayush, facilitating medical insurance, duty exemption of critical and life saving equipment, overcoming the high obsolescence of technology, creation of a fund for training on new technology and products, uniformity in government purchase process, adoption of global best practices in healthcare technology, facilitation of harmonisation of regulations, proliferation of ICT to increase access of healthcare, infrastructural development to improve access and Increasing patient awareness towards lifestyle and chronic diseases.