Report on the actions taken to support the production of medical devices

The head of the Iran National Medical Device Directorate announced the six-month report of measures to support production. Seyed Hossein Safavi said: "According to the policies of the Minister of Health and the head of the Food and Drug Administration in support of domestic production, the number of active medical equipment manufacturers has grown from 530 companies at the beginning of 2018 to 628 at the beginning of 2019 and now to more than 860 companies. It shows a 60% growth in the number of producers compared to 2018. "

He said that to achieve a jump in production, in the first three months of this year, the allocation of government currency for importing raw materials for the production of essential medical equipment and supplies was more than 44 million USD.

The head of the Iran National Medical Device Directorate said:" With the outbreak of COVID-19 disease since the beginning of March 2020, the issuance of immediate licenses with minimum documents and by observing technical and quality criteria for the essential items to deal with COVID-19 to increase production and meet domestic needs, has increased by 630%. And in some items, such as Corona detection kits, finger pulse oximeters and thermometers that we did not have a manufacturer, we have reached production and even export.

He emphasized: The movement of medical equipment and supplies is towards high-tech items and new technologies such as the production of anaesthesia machines, ventilators, and linear accelerators in cancer patients' treatment. Also, Iran achieved the export of 30 million USD of medical equipment and supplies made in Iran to five continents in the world in 2019.

According to the studies conducted by Meezgerd, 90% of the increase in production was in three specific products: three-layer masks, valve masks and clothing, and the rest of the medical equipment and supplies such as finger and desktop pulse oximeters and ventilators did not grow significantly. It is hoped that in line with the policies of the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to realize the prospect of a jump in domestic production and reduce imports, we will see a significant increase in the production of other medical products and equipment by domestic manufacturers.