Growth of Indian Medical Surgical Equipment Industry Across Globe

Posted by Bhumika Surgicals on December 19th, 2017

In the last few years exclusively, there has been a registered advancement of 10% in this sector. By 2018, it is predicted that the surgical instruments sector in India will reach $ 145 billion. This quick development has led to fantastic advancement in the medical surgical instruments sector, or medical equipment sector. This sector plays a basic role at every phase of the medical continuum, and has been instrumental in developing the access and affordability of medical services in the country.

But what absolutely is Surgical Instrument or medical technology? Broadly, any technology that extends and increases life, and alleviates pain, injury and handicap falls under medical technology. These medical products are utilized definitely for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. There are over 500,000 various items under this sector that have been grouped into 10,000 generic types.

The Present Scenario

The Medical surgical instruments and Equipment Industry in India is presently appreciated at $ 2.5 billion, but that only creates upto 6% of India's $ 40 billion medical sector. However, it is growing at an annual rate of 15%, which is much quicker than the 10% advancement rate of the whole sector. There has been a durable rise in the number of hospitals and clinics in the country, and this has led to an expanded demand for surgical technology and equipment. There is growing need for sophisticated equipment that can give us with exact diagnoses and treatments.

The Government's Contribution

Over the last few years, there has been an increment in the domestic manufacturing of medical surgical equipment. The government has introduced some new policies that are in sync with this medical surgical equipment industry growth. They are also expected to advance a regulatory structure to assure that the products being manufactured are of a high quality. With the new policies in place, India will shortly become a recognized manufacturing focus for sophisticated medical technology.

The Advancement Drivers

There are a few key components that have helped drive the excessive advancement seen in the medical technology sector in India:

• Quick Upgradation of Technology and New Product Innovation: The availability of advanced and sophisticated medical technology has created new markets that have expanded demand. New fix materials and upgraded surgical techniques for joint replacement are driving growth in the orthopaedic segment. New and decent diagnostic technology has also forced the medical community to increment their dependence on diagnoses.

• Increasing Competition with the coming of Private Providers: It is predicted that India will need as many as 1.75 million added beds by the year 2025. It is also predicted that the public sector's contribution to this demand will be only 15%-20%. Several private providers are entering the medical delivery space to cater to this added demand. Bhumika Surgicals is a leading surgical equipment supplier over across in India.

The Challenges

While the advancement so far has been an extraordinary, the medical surgical equipment industry has not yet been capable to imbue through society. Despite the growth in the medical industry, most Indians cannot manage everything more than basic medical healthcare.

• Lack of Affordability: A majority of Indians are not able to afford proper medical healthcare. This has led to medical providers paying careful attention to costs while making any purchases. While huge hospitals in Tier I cities are consistently driven by quality when it appears to purchasing medical surgical equipment, smaller hospitals in Tier II and Tier III cities and rural areas choose to buy cheaper products.

• Lack of Approachability: One of the key problems with India's medical healthcare system as a whole is unequal access to medical healthcare. Low investments in medical infrastructure and instrument have rendered public health infrastructure faulty and inadequate.

• Low Penetration: Despite the improbable growth seen in the medical healthcare industry in India, the spend per capita on medical technology is approximately $ 2, which is much lower when compared to China ($ 5) or Germany ($ 231). The sale of pacemakers illuminates this low penetration well. At 18,000 units per year, India's pacemaker penetration is just 1% of western levels.

What Can Be Done

To address the challenge of low infiltration, the medical technology industry in India needs to invent. In a nation like ours, where resources are scarce but demands are great, we need to come up with solutions that are not only affordable, but also decent, resilient, easy to distribute, and simple to use. Innovation will assist medical technology players make a new market in the lower income sectors and bounce to the next level of advancement.

To assist the growth in this sector, the government can move towards approval of the Global Harmonisation Task Force's (GHTF) definition and rules-based allocation of medical surgical equipments, and make legislative amendments to permit comprehensive Medical Device Regulations. Funds and resources can be reallocated for training and skill upgradation, and public spending on medical healthcare can be expanded from 1% of GDP to 3% of GDP, as this will thoroughly alter the provision of healthcare services.

While the medical healthcare equipment industry is developing in India, we want to assure that it advances through the country, and that even those in rural fields have access to the best probable healthcare. Only then, can we surely say that India is a global leader in the medical healthcare industry.

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