India needs special medical equipment to suit our environment, which is beset with a large rural population and infrastructure shortages, limiting access to healthcare, opined industry watchers at CeBIT India conference.

Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health said that technology is not very expensive if it’s used for the masses and IT will be the matrix on which healthcare will be delivered. He stated that in 10 years, 75 per cent of hospital beds will be in the ICU. “India needs 1 million doctors, 2 million nurses and 3 billion beds”. He pointed out that, “technology will not replace doctors; it will only make them efficient and safe and technology transformation can happen only in India as we have extremely bright engineers,” he added.

The need for basic healthcare is quickly becoming a challenge for developing countries. This creates opportunities in the manufacturing of medical electronics. But as medical designs continue to shrink in size, the design challenges and limitations within medical electronics become more pronounced.

90 per cent of patient cases in India do not require a doctor to be physically present. "Local manufacturers who understand the unique dynamics of the Indian healthcare industry are best suited to innovate and develop medical equipment that suits the requirements of developing nations like ours,” said M.N. Vidyashankar, President, IESA.

Equipment that will allow for telemedicine, remote diagnosis and low-cost treatments is the need of the hour. Mohammed Hussain Naseem, Founder & CEO, 2mpower Health Management Services pointed out that 80 per cent of deaths in India are due to unnatural reasons. “Wearable technology is an emerging space with applications in health, wellness and healthcare services and they are completely non-intrusive monitoring of health vitals,” he said.

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