Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurated the 7th edition of International conference on Pharma and Medical Devices sector 2022, which is scheduled from 25th to 27th April in the presence of Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers and Smt. S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals. The annual flagship three-day conference is being held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.

Addressing the event, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, said that the healthcare sector in India is becoming affordable and accessible for everyone due to the relentless efforts and leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister. The government has been working relentlessly to increase the number of doctors, medical institutions, health infrastructure including hospital, tertiary care centres, health and wellness centres in the country. “Conferences like India Pharma and India Medical Device 2022 provide a platform for industry, academia and policy makers to brainstorm and draft a plan for the next 25 years for the sector,” he added.

The Union Minister exhorted that under the leadership of our Prime Minister, energy and brian power of youth have been channelised. It is the youth of our country which will propel India to greater heights in the future and hence we should promote Industry- students collaboration. This will not only ensure employability of our youth but will also provide skilled manpower to the industry. As we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit mahotsav, we need to assure ‘Sankalp se siddhi’. It is extremely important that we make a roadmap for a greater future and set goals which will ensure the progress of the Nation, he added

Congratulating the Pharma industry of the country in ensuring India’s successful fight against COVID-19, the Union Minister said that the way India has managed COVID pandemic is a global case study. Today the entire world community is praising India’s efforts in carrying out the World’s largest vaccination drive. We have administered more than 187 crore doses in the country so far which is a commendable feat. When it comes to providing healthcare services, one should not think just for the nation but for the whole world. ‘Seva’ should always come first. Our approach of thinking is of totality and not token, he added.

The Union Minister also said that we are witnessing the rise of a New India and all stakeholders have to ensure that the Pharma sector also becomes a part of this growth. “We are committed to two important aspects of the healthcare ecosystem- Heal in India and Heal by India”, he noted.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Union Minister of State of Chemicals and Fertilisers said that we need to focus on R&D and innovation to ensure quality, accessibility and affordability in the Indian pharma and medical device sector. India is the pharma hub in the world with our production being 5^th in the world. The government is also working to provide industry friendly policies along with ease of doing business, he added. Shri. Khuba further noted that the Indian medical device sector is currently standing at $11 billion and is likely to reach $ 50 billion by 2025. He highlighted that currently over 80 percent of medical devices are imported in India. With R&D, innovation, India will soon produce 80 percent of medical devices in India.

Smt. S. Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals while addressing the event said that as India prepares for Amrit Kaal, it is a moment in time to redesign our aspiration in pharmaceutical and medical device sector and take the global mantle of leadership.She further said that there is a need to build an ecosystem for innovation in medical devices and drugs along with enhanced  industry- academia linkages . Highlighting various government initiatives to propel the growth of the Pharma sector, she added that under the PLI scheme, more than 22,000 crores have already been approved for bulk drugs, APIs etc.

At the inaugural ceremony, three knowledge documents- ‘Impact of the pharma industry on the Indian ecosystem in the post- COVID era’, ‘Enabling Growth and innovation in the Indian Medical Devices Sector’ and a ‘Compilation of important speeches by CEOs’ were also released by the Union Minister. In addition to this, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya also chaired two roundtable conferences with the Pharma and Medical Devices CEOs after the inaugural ceremony. In the conference, the Union Minister assured full support of the Government to the Pharma and medical devices sector and sought their feedback and support in preparing a roadmap for the next 25 years. Various issues pertaining to the Pharma and medical devices sector were discussed at the conference.

Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR, senior officials from FICCI and Invest India and CEOs of various Pharma and medical devices companies were also present at the conference.

About the 7th edition of India Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Conference 2022:

This year, the India Pharma is planned around the theme: 'India Pharma-Vision 2047: Transformative agenda for future'. For India Medical Device, the theme is 'Transforming Healthcare through Innovation & Integrated Services'. The discussions planned in a span of 3 days will bring in new opportunities and ideas to make India, the global leader in quality medicines and to ensure the availability, accessibility, and affordability of drugs and medical devices in the country.

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HFW/HFM inaugurates India Pharma and Medical Devices Conference 2022/25^thApril, 2022/5