South Asia's first medical tech park to make quality healthcare affordable in India

CHENNAI, INDIA: It is an idea whose time has certainly come. With healthcare costs becoming prohibitive by the day, it is imperative that initiatives like this one be promoted aggressively. The launch of the Trivitron Medical Technology Park is the first of the many steps that need to be taken to make quality healthcare affordable in the country.

The setting up of the park at Chennai is in line with the government of Tamil Nadu’s initiative of promoting Chennai as a manufacturing hub. Chennai has also been chosen in view of its reputation as a medical tourism hotspot.

Its healthcare infrastructure, which includes among other things the clinical expertise on offer, has often come in for praise. What’s more, it has the added advantage of having an eastern seaport and a well-established airport.

Spread over 25 acres and designed to house 10 international medical technology manufacturers, the park aims to bring cutting edge medical technology to medical professionals across the country at affordable costs.

A range of products, including ultrasound systems, Color Doppler, X–ray, C-arm, in-vitro diagnostic reagents and instruments, cardiology diagnostic instruments, critical care instruments, modular operating theatres, operating theatre lights and tables and implantable medical devices will be manufactured at the park. It is expected that the manufacture of world-class medical devices within the country will bring down the overall healthcare costs dramatically.

Inaugurated by Dr. Prathap. C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo group of Hospitals, the Aloka Trivitron Medical Technologies facility will engage in the manufacture of ultrasound machines, high end colour dopplers and advanced imaging systems. Aloka Trivitron Medical Technologies is a joint venture between Aloka, a Japan based company credited with pioneering the diagnostic ultrasound technology globally and Trivitron.

“For quite some time now there has been a felt need of making quality healthcare not only available but also affordable. With the setting up of this park this need will certainly be met. Indigenous manufacture of world class medical devices in collaboration with the best medical technology companies and research institutes in the world will spawn a new era in the spread of life saving medical technology across the country,” said Dr. Reddy.

In his welcome address Dr. Parthasarthy, Director, Trivitron Group of Companies emphasized that the products manufactured at the facility will adhere to international standards such as ISO 9000 – 2001, ISO 13485, CE, US FDA and Japan MITI certifications.

With this, it has some world class facilities like, fully ESD tiled production area of 12,000 sq.ft.(ESD helps in discharging of electrical charges within human being thus calibiration of the instruments are not affected), with this whole are is connected with CCTV for a complete view on all the activities. It has been kept in mind the importance of nature and science and whole area is Green/Eco friendly with ample usage of natural light with ample water harvesting capacity.

In his keynote address Dr. G.S.K. Velu, Founder and Managing Director, Trivitron Group of Companies, expressed hope that the setting up of the park will catalyze the rapid spread of medical technology across the country. “The setting up of this park is a dream come true. With this, we plan to put India on the global map of medical technology manufacturing. The fact that this initiative will eventually help bring down healthcare costs, facilitating the spread of advanced medical technology across the country is a source of great satisfaction for me,” he said.

Trivitron Healthcare Pvt Ltd is looking at setting up more facilities at the park very soon. To this end, the company has already signed joint ventures with leading international medical devices manufacturers. These include Brandon Medical, UK, ET, Cardioline, Italy, Johnson Medical, Sweden, and Biosystems, Spain.

V.K. Subburaj, Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu hailed the setting up of the park as a giant stride towards self – sufficiency in medical devices manufacture. He said that this unique initiative will go a long way in ensuring that quality healthcare becomes widely available. A reduction in the manufacturing costs of medical devices, he said, will in turn reduce the overall healthcare costs significantly.

Prominent among others who spoke were Minoru Yoshizumi, President, Aloka Ltd, Japan, and V.R. Venkatachalam, Chancellor, Sri Ramachandra Medical University, who also felicitated the chief guest.