With medical devices to be brought under the ambit of the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013 – the Government is looking to strengthen its infrastructure to oversee this sector.
The Bill seeks to establish the Central Drugs Authority (CDA) to regulate the drugs and cosmetics sector, besides strengthening the infrastructure, manpower, medical device testing labs and training of regulators, S. Eswara Reddy, Deputy Drugs Controller of India, said at a recent medical technology focused event in Mumbai.
The Government has allocated Rs 3,000 crore in the 12th Five-Year Plan for the development of the medical device sector, he said, speaking at Medtec India 2013.It plans to appoint 300 medical device officers, ten experts from the bio medical, bio materials, plastic engineering and electronic engineering to give a fillip to the medical device sector, he added. The Bill has been placed in the Rajya Sabha and subsequently referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in