SLCMDI appoints new committee at third AGM

The Sri Lanka Chamber of Medical Devices Industry (SLCMDI) appointed its new committee for 2018 at the third Annual General Meeting held at Cinnamon Grand Colombo recently.

The Chief Guest at the event was Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. National Medicines Regulatory Authority Chairman Prof. Asita De Silva also attended the event along with officials from the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Biomedical Engineering Services, Department of Public Finance and other stakeholders of the industry.

Speaking at the ceremony Health Minister Dr. Senaratne congratulated the efforts of the chamber and wished it success. He also stressed on the importance of local manufacturing of medical devices in a similar fashion to what was implemented for the pharmaceuticals industry through the State Pharmaceuticals and State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporations.

George Steuart Health Executive Director Eran Ranasinghe took over the presidency for the year 2018 following two years of service as secretary of the chamber. Eran succeeded Saman Hulangamuwa Managing Director of Diligence Healthcare, who was president in 2017. In his inaugural address, President Eran Ranasinghe said: “The chamber represents the collective voice of the medical device importers. Since inception, over 40 members have rallied around the chamber, strengthening its progress. Our quest is to create lasting solutions to the medical devices industry in a regulated, equal opportunity and ethical environment. Representing the collective voice of the medical device importers, the chamber has a growing influence on national legislation. While the chamber does act as an advocate for its members on the various issues, it is also involved in championing issues affecting the medical devices importers at large.” Other elected office bearers for the year 2018 are Tilak Fernando (Vice President), Niranjan Selvadurai (Vice President), Saman Peiris (Secretary), Sanjeeva Samarasinghe (Assistant Secretary) and Pradeep Amarawardena (Treasurer). Other council members include A.R. James, Angelo Nicholas, Shiran De Mel, S. Prabu, Vijith Madampe, Indika Rajakaruna and T. Sayandhan. In recent years, the medical devices industry has grown steadily and is predicted to continue to grow, in the next five-year period as well. Medical devices remain a necessity to healthcare due to advancements in technology. 

The global medical device market is expected to reach an estimated US$342.9 billion by 2021 with a compound average growth rate of 4.6 percent from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers for this have been identified as growth in healthcare expenditure, increasing health awareness, and the ageing population.