The event was the first of its kind hosted by the chamber and attracted a distinguished audience, comprising of Chairmen, CEOs, Directors, General Managers and heads of divisions from both member and non-member companies.
Stressing on the importance of the event, Chairman of the SLCMDI PR committee and CEO of Sunshine Healthcare Lanka Ltd. Mr. T. Sayandhan stated, that the objective of the event was to update the industry heads on the ongoing works of the chamber.
He also spelt out the vision ‘Regulated, Equal Opportunity and Ethical Industry’ and mission ‘Create meaningful solutions to the Medical Devices Industry in Sri Lanka’ that the chamber works towards, since its inception.
In his presentation on the chamber update, President of the SLCMDI, Mr. Eran Ranasinghe (Executive Director, George Steuart Health), reiterated the key objectives set forth by the chamber for the year 2019.
Accordingly, this includes the effective implementation of Device Classification Guidelines and Regulations, implementation of dedicated SPC tender guidelines, and the implementation of Tax Exemption for registered medical devices.
Expressing the chamber viewpoint on the NMRA (National Medicines Regulatory Authority) Device Classification Guidelines and Regulations, Eran mentioned that, keeping in line with the GHTF (Global Harmonisation Task Force) principles, a risk based classification system was considered and mutually adopted.
The system is expected to be beneficial to both the NMRA and the industry. He also mentioned that the final draft of the guidelines is ready and is expected to be implemented soon by the NMRA.
Eran went on to highlight the efforts taken by the chamber in obtaining a price increase of (price) controlled medical devices.
After many rounds of discussion with the authorities, it was learnt that a 14.45% price increase of Intra Ocular Lenses, Coronary Stents, Glucometer and Glucometer Strips was granted by the Ministry of Health.
The VAT waiver on registered medical devices was also discussed, where it was mentioned that the chamber has appealed to the relevant authorities to provide a tax exemption for medical devices which are registered with the National Medicines Regulatory Authority. It was highlighted that provision of VAT exemption would provide significant benefit to patients, financially.
Other points of discussion included the dedicated tender guidelines for Medical Devices, a project commenced by the SLCMDI in 2015, overdue government debtors, Chamber ID cards and Chamber affiliation with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
The presentation was followed by an in depth Q&A session between the SLCMDI subcommittee chairmen and the industry heads.