KARACHI: Health experts at a conference have asked the government to waive taxes and levies on the raw material and machinery needed to manufacture medical devices for five years so that the local production can be boosted.

Representatives of medical and engineering universities, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), not for profit and other organisations spoke at the conference on ‘Boosting Medical Devices in Pakistan’, co-organised by Saman-e-Shifa Foundation (SSF) and Easy Health Tech at Karachi Expo Centre.

Dr Farhan Essa Abdullah deliberated on innovative ways and means to provide better health care services to people in general and flood survivors in particular.

Dr Abdul Bari of Indus Hospital, Dr Murtaza Najabat of NHTPL, Dr Shahid Noor of SSF, Dr Qamar Malik of PAF-IAST and others also spoke at the event where live performance of innovative health tech devices was also showcased, according to a press release of SSF.

As medical devices are mostly being imported, its local production can boost medical device industry in Pakistan, saving hard-earned foreign exchange.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2022