Indigenous Development of Patient and Health Care Systems—A Realistic Approach

Abstract

A sizeable amount of foreign exchange is lost every year due to the avoidable import of Patient and Health Care Systems into the country. During the year 1974–75 intensive and cardiac care units alone worth more than a crore of rupees were imported into the country by three international giants. Our hospitals and clinics are in a bad shape and by international standards several decades behind time. Indigenous development of patient and health care systems in the country needs a realistic approach and an understanding and co-operation between users, manufacturers and the government.Users must realize technology in India cannot develop as fast as in the US or other advanced countries. It takes about 2 years for newly developed equipment to reach India and another 3 to 4 years to design and develop this equipment indigenously provided necessary and essential components are freely available in the international market. A development gap of about 5 to 6 years is thus inevitable. The users (the medical professi...