From the August 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
There is the understanding that prevention is better both for patient health and for budgets than providing cures. This, added to the need of ensuring universal health coverage, will require an increase in the government’s investments in the health sector. These perspectives on the future evolution of the health sector’s resources and the recognition, both public and private, of its importance are undoubtedly good news for the local medical devices industry.
On the future of the public and private sector, Arturo Garza, Executive Director of Medicus, a Mexican innovative integral services’ provider specializing in the field of anesthesia, says, “My belief is that the public and private service will [work] more closely together. The private sector has more beds than they need, so it makes sense for them to unite with the public sector. Some public clinics are already hiring private clinics for services and beds and I am sure this phenomenon of increasing synergies between the private and the public sectors will intensify in the near future.”
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Another prospective evolution already affecting the Mexican health institutions is medical tourism. Substantial investments are currently being made: developing new technologies, bringing in new health professionals and creating new facilities in order to meet the needs of medical tourists. “Mexico has the structure and the means to position itself strongly in this sector of health internationally,” says Milton Rosario, former President of the Mexican Association for Innovating Industries in the Medica l Devices Industry (AMID).
It’s predicted that medical tourism will grow exponentially during the next decade.
Regulatory concerns
Concerning the regulatory framework structuring the Mexican medical devices industry, there is a major flashpoint. The substantial challenges in registering new products for production and distribution in the country often prove too daunting for fledgling companies. This registration process, which is indispensable for the distribution of medical devices, is responsibility of COFEPRIS, the Mexican equivalent of the United States Food and Drug Administration. The problem is that bureaucratic procedures and requirements concerning the registration of medical equipment and devices are slowing down the arrival of the latest products to the Mexican market, with the exception of those classified as “low risk” or 1A Class by COFEPRIS. There is no doubt that, given its role, the health care industry has to be tightly regulated, yet the registry is so delayed due to a backlog of registration petitions that the wait for review averages one year, while in some cases, the wait can take more than two years. “This has had, and still conveys, a negative effect not only on distributors, but also on the health system as a whole and ultimately on patients,” says Mario Rey, Commercial Director of Alrich Medical Services, a Mexican medical devices’ distribution company. “Given that as a result of the regulatory obstruction, they cannot enjoy the latest medical technologies because of the difficulties related to their registration by the COFEPRIS.”
