Ram Janaki Sansthan Positive Broadcasting House (RJS PBH)Webinar Co-hosted by PSAIIF drew attention of all stakeholders on the theme “Can we trust Used/Refurbished Devices? ” Among those participating were Prof. Bejon Kumar Misra, International Consumer Policy Expert, and Editor, The Aware Consumer; Shri Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AiMeD, The Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry and MD, Hindustan Syringe and Medical Device Ltd., as Chief Guest; Shri Gauri Sridhar, Managing Director, Surgical Instruments Group Holdings (SIGH) based in the U.K., as Keynote Speaker; and Ms Payal, Consulting Editor, The Aware Consumer.
The Co-hosts welcomed the guests and participants. As the Indian medical industry is at a nascent stage, it is necessary to import components for devices for Make in India initiative. Shri Prafull D. Seth informed that on talking to an exporter in the USA on this issue, it was learnt that when a medical device has been used for its intended life of 10 years, the obsolete device is refurbished and exported to developing countries.As these machines are not approved by local auhorities in India, health of patients may apparently be compromised.
Therefore, Prafull D. Seth sought clarification from eminent speakers on four points: i)What problems in quality the refurbished devices pose for patient safety and health? ii) what is the status of manufacturing medical devices as also their costs in Make in India scheme vis-a-vis imported medical devices?, iii)
Does the country have rules and regulations for refurbished medical devices?, iv)
How to make patient aware of this situation?
Keynote Speaker informed that refurbished devices are used everywhere even in UK and the USA, their life-span being 3 to 5 years.
Those from devloping countries use these refurbished machines, but these should be recalibrated as per local conditions.
As for safety, it is obviously the hospital’s responsibility that patient should have confidence.
Without regular service of devices yearly, these cannot be used on patients.
The Chief Guest informed that the total annual health budget of the country is Rs. 90,000 crore. The value of imported refurbished medical devices of different categories is say, Rs.25,000 or so.The country should not be made to accumulate e-waste. The less cost of refurbished devices should not be at the cost of patient safety. While new medical devices are manufactured in batches and therefore standardised, the refurbished ones of necessity have to be handled on individual- device basis with its components from various sources, and therefore need to have specific code and specific certificate from the manufacturer for traceability and patient safety. The hospitals don’t seem to have a list of details of new or refurfished medical devices, like MRI, CT Scan, etc. for the information of patients, for whom they are used. Several aspects regarding the maintenace and servicing of the medical devices, their meticulous certification, skills of staff using sophisticated electronic medical devices, need for stringent regulations in this field, and how to make the benefits of these accessible to the population in a foolproof manner in view of the healthcare requirements of the large population were all gone into in the deliberations of this Webinar. Several points emerged that seem to need the attention of all stakeholders and those who want better healthcare for the people of our country. The webinar clarified many aspects of which people may not be aware, and focused on grey areas needing attention.
Shri Uday Kumar Manna, Founder, RJS PBH informed the participants of having initiated RJS PBH studio. He informed the participants of having organised global media dialogue on World Nature Conservation day. He informed participants of forthcoming programmes and the RJS PBH function on 11.08.2024 when RJS PBH Granth.Part 3 will be dedicated to the public. Ms Payal thanked the participants for their views.
