Vizagapatam/ New Delhi: A deer has the fragrance in itself but runs throughout the forest for finding it. This Kabir couplet succinctly sums up the dilemma Indian hospitals are faced with regarding ‘Made in India’ medical equipments.
The question of quality has so far been off putting but roundtable via a webinar between AMTZ, domestic medical device manufacturing cluster in Andhra Pradesh and CAHO, a body of accredited hospitals of India last Sunday, proved a veritable eye opener. The interface around theme ‘Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Impact of Make-in-India Medical Equipments and Comprehensive Maintenance Solutions by AMTZ’ as part of CAHO’s revolution for inculcating culture of quality and optimum patient safety in Indian Healthcare, lent a new direction to orientation of accredited Indian hospitals regarding technological capacity building. As of now, Indian hospitals are heavily dependent on import of high end medical equipments at astronomical costs. AMTZ is trying hard to change this narrative root branch and body.
The claim by AMTZ in Roundtable, in no uncertain terms, that India’s competency for manufacturing medical devices of all manners, right from mask to MRI, has come of age and India becoming global hub of medtech sooner or later is a fait accompli, caught the imagination of CAHO’s members and a number of hospital administrators present. As CAHO advocates patient safety as sine qua non of a hospital, its affirmation of AMTZ medical equipments might go a long way in establishing India as global hub of medical equipments. The sound of this interface raised hope that the dream brewing among Make in India Healthcare enthusiasts that like being pharmacy of the world India someday would also become medical device hub for the world is not far- fetched.
Dr. Jitendra Sharma, MD and Founding CEO of AMTZ (Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone) befittingly earning nickname of ‘MedTech Man of India’ most convincingly presented such a bouquet of quality, cost and ease of maintenance that CAHO, a patient safety crusader and conscience keeper of accredited Indian hospitals, seemed sold on AMTZ’s capability of fashioning world class medical devices. The cherry on the cake was that AMTZ’s strengths fully resonated with CAHO’s quest for making Indian Healthcare more efficient, effective, economical and equitable. His offer of supplying world class medical equipments at 40 percent less cost of what hospitals are paying through nose currently and of ease of maintenance was indeed quite alluring. Dr Sharma touched a chord when he said AMTZ does not want to be mere supplier of medical equipments but partners in medtech capacity building of Indian hospitals.
Marshaling attributes and advantages of medical devices being manufactured in AMTZ cluster at Vizag with élan, Dr Sharma showed guts to announce that they have already arrived and manufacturing world class medical devices from mask to MRI and exporting it fully to the satisfaction of clients abroad. He confidently said that Indian hospitals need to look no further than AMTZ for best of the class medical equipments. Indian engineers have aced it and can race the best in the world. Dr Sharma looked so confident that representatives of hospitals had no notes to offer. They seemed visibly in awe of AMTZ capability to manufacture high end medical equipments and seemed on the verge of shouting Eureka (we found we found). Dr Sharma like master of all he surveyed came, spoke and conquered.
As moderator of Roundtable, Dr Gaurav Aggarwal, Senior Vice President – operations, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali and a fast emerging leader in the domain of hospital administration, vouched the hassles consequent upon installing imported medical device at humungous cost and maintaining them. Dr Gaurav, a nationalist from the core, was visibly mighty impressed by Make in India accomplishments in the realm of medical devices and stressed the need of ease of medtech capacity building. He also acquiesced in a sober fact that the more the cost of technology more the cost shifted to patients.
Dr Vijai Agarwal, patriarch and abiding president of CAHO, received the ball put in CAHO’s court by AMTZ in the most positive spirit and assured Dr Sharma to play a potent bridge between AMTZ and accredited hospitals of India. H seemed on fire and stressed the need to spread the words of AMTZ’s credentials like wild fire. Dr Vijai Agarwal shared the experience of his visit to AMTZ and recounted how Americans on visit there were rubbing their eyes in disbelief to see clusters’ accomplishments.
