Union Health Ministry has asked the states and central health agencies to open their doors for Indian products while procuring medical devices like coronary stents. Last month, the ministry had sent an advisory to all the agencies asking them to change their tender conditions so that Indian medical device manufacturers too can take part in the bids, sources say. If the states relent and modify the procurement documents, then it may lower the cost of several medical procedures, including coronary angioplasty, as Indian devices are available at a fraction of the cost of the imported instruments.
The July 18 advisory directs the health agencies to consider the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) permitted medical devices rather than insisting on the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval. A large number of tenders by the central and the state health agencies…
