On October 27, the 3rd International Forum on Medical Equipment “MedTech” was held in Astana, where experts discussed new ways to solve problems facing the medical equipment industry, including an integrated approach and automation of processes for equipping the healthcare system with medical equipment.
The forum, held with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and SK-Pharmacy LLP, was attended by international experts on issues related to the circulation of medical equipment, world-famous scientists and practicing doctors, the largest manufacturers of medical products, heads of Central government bodies and National companies, Kazakhstan and foreign entrepreneurs.
The organizers of the Forum are the Public Foundation “Silk way development fund” in partnership with “Quality Business Partners” LLP, part of “SILKWAY INNOVATION” (E-Forum.net project) with the support of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan and SK-Pharmacy LLP "
The agenda included issues of localizing the production of medical devices. The drivers of the forum were the Strategic and Business sessions, after which the discussion moved to three thematic sessions. It should be noted that the forum was held in a hybrid format (combining offline and online elements).
The development of domestic production of medical equipment is one of the priority tasks set for the industry by the Head of State. As part of the annual Address to the people of Kazakhstan, the President instructed to increase the share of medicines and medical products of domestic production to 50% already in 2025, as well as to ensure the attraction of investors, ensuring the transfer of technology and the latest developments.
The Government of Kazakhstan is taking systematic measures to solve this problem: it has approved a Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry until 2025, developed the National Project “HEALTHY NATION” for 2021-2025, and is developing a “Concept for the development of healthcare infrastructure for 2024-2030”.
One of the main directions of state policy in healthcare is the creation of favorable conditions for equipping medical institutions with modern diagnostic, treatment and preventive equipment. The efficient functioning of the medical equipment market is designed to accomplish this task. Research has shown that in the conditions of the formation of new economic relations, this market is a steadily developing part of the country’s economic complex.
Measures for the further development of national healthcare will make it possible to fully equip all medical organizations with the necessary equipment, renew bed capacity by 50%, replace outdated infrastructure, and increase life expectancy to 75 years.
The strategic session was devoted to the topic of an integrated approach to equipping with medical equipment, purchasing and localizing the production of medical equipment, and automating the processes of equipping with medical equipment.
The speakers focused on the experience of purchasing medical equipment, problems in the field of equipping with medical equipment and ways to solve them, and automating the processes of equipping with medical equipment. The implementation of life cycle contracts for medical equipment as an alternative to traditional service maintenance has not gone unnoticed.
Presentations at the session were made by the Chairman of the Board of the RSE at the RPE "National Center for Expertise of Medicines and Medical Devices" Erken Dautbaev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of NJSC "Turar Healthcare" Askar Khoroshash, Regional Director for Central Asia, the Transcaucasus, the Republic of Belarus, Mongolia of the Philips company Olga Volkova, Chairman of the Board of Ordamed JSC Erkin Dlimbetov, Executive Director of Aktyubrentgen JSC Mars Makhmutov, founder and General Director of KDL Olympus Erlan Suleimenov and Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacia LLP Erkhat Iskaliev.
The business session discussed the topic “Localization of the production of medical devices,” where experts shared their opinions on comprehensive support for investment projects, contract manufacturing, expert assessment of medical devices and technology transfer.
During thematic sessions, forum participants raised industry issues such as R&D in Medtech in Kazakhstan, telemedicine, digital medicine, information systems in the medical field, as well as service maintenance of medical equipment and regulation of the service market.
Issues of innovation in the production of medical equipment, artificial intelligence in medicine and their new possibilities were actively discussed. Forum participants discussed the workforce shortage and reviewed progress in digital medicine and new opportunities.
The forum brought together professionals and serves as an effective platform for exchanging experiences and discussing key issues in the development of medical equipment production. Representatives of government authorities and business, including international ones, representatives of the regulator, foreign vendors, as well as Kazakh dealers and manufacturers of equipment and machinery shared their opinions.
The Kazakhstani medical equipment production industry has enormous potential, the implementation of which becomes possible only with the active participation of all industry representatives.
