The Government is committed to take necessary steps for structural transformation of the regulatory framework of medical education and practice in India.
ARUN JAITLEY, UNION FINANCE MINISTER
Yojana and the e-NAM scheme.
However, Mr Barwale also says that the seed industry hasn’ t got its due.“ We find amiss that the seed sector has been not been given its due attention in the Budget. Seed Innovations need to be encouraged and promoted in the sector as seeds are and would continue to be a critical part of the strategy to double farmers’ income through improved agricultural productivity. We trust that there would be increased policy support for Research and Innovation in Seeds soon,” he said.
“ It is reassuring that the revision of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act and the Medical Devices Rules have found a mention in the Budget. We hope, however, these revisions will be implemented at the soonest and that a strong patient-centric regulatory system is soon in place towards the end objective of ensuring more accessible and affordable drugs and devices for our population and better healthcare for all. A more predictable regulatory environment will also create greater confidence amongst global stakeholders in doing business in India,” stated Mr Naz Haji, SVP and Managing Director, R & D Solutions, QuintilesIMS India.
Mr Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry( AiMeD) in his post budget comments stated,“ It is heartening to note the commitment from the Finance Minister in this budget regarding‘ regulations for medical devices in the country.’ However, the statement is too open-ended and the fine print notification spelled out does not seemingly have any details on duty changes etc. He added further,“ We do hope the coming road map will be in sync with the Government’ s larger commitment of‘ Make in India’ i. e to develop manufacturing ecosystem for the medical devices in the country, boosting domestic industry while ensuring the healthcare security of the nation which implies that cost of medical devices need to be lowered.”
As per Mr Pavan Choudary, Director General, Medical Technology Association of India( MTaI),” The FM’ s acknowledgement that the Medical Device rules will be globally harmonised and that this would facilitate investments in this sector is a reflection of the growing understanding of the international interconnectedness of this sector and the importance of global technology & investment infusion.”
Dr Dharminder Nagar, MD, Paras Healthcare feels that the budget has been good for healthcare, He says,“ The most notable announcement on the healthcare front in the Budget has been that of two new AIIMS for Jharkhand and Gujarat. Given the need for expanding the reach of public healthcare, we need an AIIMS in every state. This will also help enhance medical education in the country. So, this is a welcome step and we hope it is taken up on priority by the Ministry of Health. Another important element is the pledge to eliminate tuberculosis by 2020. India has the highest burden of tuberculosis, a disease which has been successfully eliminated from a large part of the world. While 2020 seems an ambitious target, it is a highly imperative one for our country.”
While analyzing the budget in the critical way, Mr Piruz Khambatta, Chairman, CII-National Committee on Food Processing, mentioned,“ After the big earth quake of demonetization drive budget was expected to be tsunami of reforms, especially to boost private sector investments, manufacturing and job creation, but unfortunately this has not happened and those big bang reforms which were expected have not come in. This would not help overall private investments and job creation. More importantly exports which have been stagnant for many years will also not get any major boost in this budget.”
BIOVOICENEWS. COM 21