80% of medical equipment imported, doctors say.

COIMBATORE: Almost 80% of the medical equipment used in hospitals is being imported, said doctors here on Tuesday. This invites an import duty of 2.5% and heavy maintenance charges which run into lakhs of rupees, making treatment using them expensive.

Speaking at the first FICCI TANCARE meet held here, doctors said there is an urgent need to make medical equipment in India.

FICCI's healthcare panel convener GSK Velu said medical equipment worth Rs 40,000 crore is bought every year. "However, hardly Rs 5,000 crore of that equipment is bought from Indian companies," he said.

"Even simple equipment like glucometers, ECG machines, x-ray machines, MRI machines and angiomachines are imported," he added.

Doctors said import of equipment not only invites a severe import duty but also heavy maintenance charges. "The duty on imported machines ranges anywhere between 0% and 20% which is huge. Maintenance cost for an imported machine worth Rs 5 to Rs 6 crore is between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 30 lakh," said Dr Nalla G Palaniswami. "This makes treatment prohibitively expensive," he added.

"There is doubt about the quality and longevity of Indian manufactured equipment. This should be dispelled," said Dr K G Bhakthavathsalam, chairman of KG Hospitals.

Doctors appealed for a change in policies by the Indian government. "Two decades ago, China was in the same boat, importing all their medical equipment. But, today they manufacture all their equipment," said Velu, who is also the managing director of Trivitron Healthcare. "This is because they have a policy that says all companies outsourcing their manufacturing to them should also share their technical know-how. India has no such rules," said Dr Palaniswami.

Speaking about the growth of the pharma industry, Velu said India which was once importing medicines now was producing surplus and exporting them too.

The medical community appealed to the government to increase expenditure on healthcare. "We spend hardly 1% to 5% of our GDP on healthcare, which is why hardly 25% of patients get treated at government or NGO-run hospitals. 75% of the burden is borne by private hospitals," said Velu.

Dean of the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospitals Dr Edwin Joe admitted that the government health set-up needs to be strengthened step-by-step.