RT team
India is taking a significant stride toward becoming a global hub for healthcare innovation through a new collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). This partnership aims to boost the production of medical devices within the country.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, underscored the importance of ramping up the production of indigenous medical devices to satisfy increasing local demands. Although there has been progress in the development of these devices, scaling manufacturing remains a hurdle.
India Sets Sights on Medical Device Manufacturing Leadership: To tackle these challenges, the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology (SCTIMST) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with WHO. As part of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the institute will work with international entrepreneurs to license technologies and earn revenues through royalties.
Dr. Singh pointed out that this initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) vision, which advocates for boosting domestic production and lessening import dependency to strengthen India’s stance in the global healthcare arena.
Cultivating Expertise and Enhancing Facilities: This partnership is set to enrich India’s capabilities by fostering a skilled workforce and enhancing manufacturing capacities. The minister also showcased India’s state-of-the-art facilities, which support cutting-edge technologies like in-vitro testing, genomics, precision medicine, and vaccine development.
The technological contributions from SCTIMST are vital to India’s expanding medical diagnostics sector. Dr. Singh expressed optimism that the collaboration with WHO would spur further technological breakthroughs, innovations, and global partnerships.
He concluded by stating that this partnership would cement India’s reputation as a leader in healthcare innovation, focusing particularly on “Technology for Medical Diagnosis.”
