Government support sought for medical products

Government support sought for medical products

JAKARTA (JP): Local producers of medical and laboratory
devices badly need government support to provide cheap, high-
quality products to the public, according to the Ministry of
Health.

Speaking at a meeting of the Association of Medical and
Laboratory Device Entrepreneurs (Gakeslab), Sampurno, director
general of food and medicine supervision at the ministry, said
such support would help the country to lower the use of such
products from overseas.

According to Sampurno, about 90 percent of medical and
laboratory equipment used in this country is imported, mostly
from the United States and Europe.

"We need to support the local industry by giving them
incentives and financial access," he said. He added that some
domestic plants already had the qualification to produce some
medical devices and export them to other countries.

"The items are not complicated or computerized ones. They are
just modest devices, such as incubators, because our industries
here still lack human resources and technology," Sampurno said,

But the quality of local products meets international
standards.

Gakeslab spokesperson P. Benny Manullang said the main
obstacle in the industry was mastering the required technology.

"Some companies are capable of producing big devices like X-
ray machines. But most companies only produce small devices," he
said.

Benny added that the government only gave state budget
subsidies of between Rp 500 million (US$62,500) and Rp 1 billion
to each of the ministry's provincial office.

According to Sampurno, Indonesia should follow the investment
and tax system in China and India, which fully support local
production of medical devices.

In China, the government is working on the regulation of
product registration.

Sampurno said that product registration in China was valid for
only four years, while here does not expire. (09)