img

Jointly tackling the "growing pains" of medical devices.

2018-04-04


In recent years, the innovation level of domestic medical devices has improved, but the original innovation capability remains insufficient, and the Chinese medical device market is still dominated by imported products. What exactly is restricting the "rise" of domestic medical devices? Reporters interviewed several members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and relevant industry personnel to assess the innovation and development of domestic medical devices. Huo Yong, a member of the National Committee and chairman of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, introduced, "China has not yet mastered the overall original products in medical devices. For example, although domestic stents have occupied 3/4 of the market share since 2013, the original products are not in our hands; we have only made some local or detailed improvements." Huo Yong said that while companies may have good ideas for medical device production, they do not understand the clinical needs and shortcomings in application as well as doctors do. Improving the innovation level of domestic medical devices requires collective effort; doctors should not be mere spectators. Huo Yong suggested that supportive policies should be introduced, and research funding should be invested to encourage clinical doctors to participate in the research and development of medical devices. "Currently, Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital has conducted beneficial explorations, where the hospital stipulates that the innovative achievements of doctors belong to themselves, and 80% of the benefits generated go to the doctors personally." "The Chinese medical device market is still dominated by imported products. Even high-quality and reasonably priced domestic medical devices have a low proportion of entering hospitals. For example, the dental implants at Peking University School of Stomatology are mainly imported," said Yu Guangyan, a member of the National Committee and former president of Peking University School of Stomatology. There are multiple reasons for this, such as some manufacturers or sales departments providing poor after-sales service, and patients and their families preferring to use imported medical devices. Yu Guangyan suggested that China should introduce policies to promote the development of the domestic medical device industry, such as establishing research funds for domestic medical device R&D, vigorously supporting product development of related enterprises, and strengthening research cooperation between enterprises and medical researchers. At the same time, it is also necessary to enhance the awareness of medical staff, patients, and their families regarding the use of domestic medical devices through medical insurance policy adjustments and media promotion. Additionally, although the quality of domestic equipment has significantly improved compared to the past, there is still a lack of comprehensive quality evaluation reports. Jiao Yahui, director of the Medical Resource Department of the Medical Administration Bureau of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, pointed out that the medical device field currently lacks scientific, objective, and fair quality evaluation reports, which are crucial for decision-making by health administrative departments. Jiao Hong, a member of the National Committee and deputy director of the National Medical Products Administration, stated that the administration is vigorously promoting the construction of enterprise quality systems. "After-sales service for medical devices, continuous quality tracking, etc., are all included in the enterprise quality system." Improving the quality of medical devices requires mutual promotion among enterprises, users, and regulatory parties to achieve common goals. Chi Hui, deputy director of the Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, introduced that there is currently a serious shortage of regulatory talent in China's medical device sector. The government should increase support, strengthen the talent team and capacity building of medical device regulatory departments at all levels, increase staffing, and expand the team of administrative regulatory personnel for medical devices to enhance the quality monitoring of domestic medical devices.
In recent years, the innovation level of domestic medical devices has improved, but the original innovation capability is still insufficient, and the Chinese medical device market is still dominated by imported products. What exactly is restricting the "rise" of domestic medical devices? Reporters interviewed some members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and relevant industry personnel to diagnose the innovative development of domestic medical devices.
 
Huo Yong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, introduced, "Our country has not yet mastered original products overall in medical devices. For example, although domestic stents have occupied 3/4 of the market share since 2013, the original products are not in our hands; we have only made some local or detailed improvements." Member Huo Yong said that in medical device production, companies may have good ideas, but they do not understand the clinical needs and shortcomings in application as clearly as doctors do. Improving the innovation level of domestic medical devices requires collective effort; doctors should not be mere spectators.
 
Member Huo Yong said that supportive policies should be introduced, and research funding should be invested to encourage clinical doctors to participate in medical device research and development. "Currently, Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital has conducted beneficial explorations, and the hospital stipulates that the innovative achievements of doctors belong to themselves, with 80% of the benefits generated going to the doctors personally."
 
"The Chinese medical device market is still dominated by imported products. Even for high-quality and reasonably priced domestic medical devices, the proportion entering hospitals is still low. Taking the dental implants at Peking University School of Stomatology as an example, they are basically dominated by imports," said Yu Guangyan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former president of Peking University School of Stomatology. There are multiple reasons for this, such as some manufacturers or sales departments having poor after-sales service, and patients and their families preferring to use imported medical devices. Yu Guangyan suggested that China should introduce policies to promote the development of the domestic medical device industry, such as establishing research funds for domestic medical device R&D, vigorously supporting product R&D of related enterprises, and strengthening research cooperation between enterprises and medical researchers. At the same time, it should also enhance the awareness of medical staff, patients, and their families to use domestic medical devices through medical insurance policy adjustments and media promotion.
 
At the same time, although the quality of domestic equipment has significantly improved compared to the past, there is still a lack of comprehensive quality evaluation reports. Jiao Yahui, director of the Medical Resource Department of the Medical Administration and Supervision Bureau of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, pointed out that there is currently a lack of scientific, objective, and fair quality evaluation reports in the medical device field, which is crucial for decision-making by health administrative departments.
 
Jiao Hong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the National Medical Products Administration, proposed that the National Medical Products Administration is vigorously promoting the construction of enterprise quality systems. "After-sales service for medical devices, continuous quality tracking, etc., are all included in the enterprise quality system." Improving the quality of medical devices requires mutual promotion among enterprises, users, and regulators to achieve common goals.
 
Chi Hui, deputy director of the Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, introduced that there is currently a serious shortage of regulatory talent in China's medical device sector. The government should increase support, strengthen the talent team and capacity building of medical device regulatory departments at all levels, increase staffing, and expand the team of administrative regulatory personnel for medical devices to enhance the quality monitoring of domestic medical devices.