Medical gear to be of top grade

Star: NILAI: Manufacturers of medical devices will be required to register their products with the Health Ministry soon.
This requirement comes following the soon-to-be introduced Medical Devices Act to ensure healthcare providers only use quality equipment to treat patients.
These medical gadgets, including imported ones, will also have to be registered so that they are protected under the country’s patent rights.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Medical Devices Bill would likely be tabled in Parliament during this month’s sitting or at the latest during the June session.
“It is time that such provisions are put in place. Apart from safeguarding patients’ rights, we want to ensure inferior medical products are not dumped here by fly-by-night companies,” he said at the opening of the RM30mil BioMolecular Industries Sdn Bhd nuclear medical research and production facility.
He said the ministry had discussions with stakeholders in the industry, who agreed that such provisions should be introduced for the good of all parties.
Alluding to the fact that Malaysia’s medical device industry was still developing, he said such laws were needed as the Government wanted to set high standards for the healthcare sector.
According to estimates by the Association of Malaysian Medical Industries, the medical devices market in the country grew to RM2.7bil in 2010.
It is expected to hit RM2.9bil this year and RM5bil in 2012.
At the launch, BioMolecular Industries chairman Datuk Seri Tai Hean Leng said with the commissioning of the state-of-the-art facility, which was a joint venture between Belgium’s Ion Beam Applications and Masteel Bhd, treatment for cancer, heart and neurological disorders would become more affordable for Malaysians.