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medical technology , the key to the technology ’ s success lies in its actual utilisation . Our attempt is to educate women about the latest screening and diagnostic tools at their disposal , so that the highend equipment is put to good use , eventually improving both longevity and quality of life .
Take mammography for example , we have the world ’ s most advanced system at our centre , but it is useless unless women come in and use it . It is recommended that all ladies above the age of 40 get a mammogram done once every 2 years , but either because of the taboo associated with breast cancer , or extremely busy schedules , no one takes out even a few minutes for this simple test .
There is lot of talk about make in India . Do you see the rise of manufacturing in medical technology space as well ?
India is doing much in diagnostics and robotic technology . The medical tourism has got a boost due to low cost treatment options . Was a part of the committee to start manufacturing CT scans . The Task Force is overseeing the development of a 1.5 tesla magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI ) machine , SAMIR at the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ), Mumbai within five-year timeline . The
I am not saying that the natural medicine practitioners could do surgery but they can play a role in spreading the word around if involved . Rather than ignoring or sidelining , it is best to utilize their vast network .
one and half years have already gone into it and I hope it will get completed on time .
We have a lot of Indian CT scanners , so are the x-ray machines . As far as completely Indian machines , the assembling of machines will continue to happen even if we manufacture some parts here . It ’ s a joint process and various destinations are chosen based on cost and expertise .
We have started our efforts but need to catch up . Government is working towards it and it will take some time for a change in thought process .
Most of the machines we see are imported ones . Will we see the startups or Indian firms who expand into an indigenous industry ?
The startups in the highend technology are fewer or even negligent . Reason is the huge investment into infrastructure and brains . At the moment , we have to rely on the imported technologies . In case there is a huge funding push or a sustainable startup policy , we can certainly do well . We have the best skilled people around .
Have we been able to reach out to the rural areas ? How do we make the technologies affordable ?
We have to remember that the healthcare is a state subject in India and most of the implementation of
12 BioVoiceNews | March 2017