Sri Lanka Chamber of Medical Devices to deliver quality healthcare to the nation
The Sri Lanka Chamber of Medical Devices has plans to deliver quality healthcare to the nation, according to S. Premakumar Weyhenage, President of the Chamber.
Speaking to the Business Times on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Chamber last Tuesday at Kingsbury Colombo, he said “The formation of the organisation is to deliver quality healthcare to support the Ministry of Health and the private sector of the country. It is one of the most important organisations which needs to be in a country like Sri Lanka.”
Ensuring quality uninterrupted supplies and introducing upgraded technology solutions to the country are one of our main concerns, he added.
“The current government policy is to manufacture things locally. We as the chamber will set the groundwork for tomorrow’s manufacturers to come and manufacture things locally. These are the main broader objectives of the organisation. Initially we might have issues in delivering quality systems but we will need the government regulatory, policy and healthcare support to carry out our objectives,” he noted.
The chamber is also trying to tie up with the University of Moratuwa which has already created a couple of devices to make Sri Lanka a research hub, he emphasised.
Mr. Weyhenage said that the chamber wants to help the government in getting better products at an affordable price and to help the government when there is no stock left at times due to the gaps in the systems of deliveries.
With an aging population and increase in diseases such as heart, cancer and diabetes, the need for better diagnostic equipment and advanced treatment is quite clear. A quarter of Sri Lanka’s total healthcare expenditure is directed towards equipment and supplies. It is necessary to have a clear plan for the purchase of medical devices. It is important that all involved share their views with relevant authorities to reach an amenable balance of expenditure and healthcare outcome.
Improvement of existing treatments and diagnostic equipment will encourage patients to expose themselves to local facilities rather than going abroad for their medical needs. As the increased migration of medical professionals in search of better training and exposure to novel medical methods becomes apparent, the better equipping of hospitals would encourage home-grown talent to remain in the country and add to the improvements in healthcare.
The chamber encouraging and facilitating manufacturing opportunities in Sri Lanka would be advantageous to the economy as well as reduce the cost of medical devices which would channel through to healthcare costs, he said. Laying the foundation for an important future prospect in co-operation with the government will be a main focus of the chamber.
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