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Innovation needed to boost production of medical devices
Indonesia has exported hospital beds to Africa, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
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A man purchases products at a Kimia Farma pharmacy. (Tribunnews/Tribunnews)
H
ealth Minister Nila Farid Moeloek has called for the greater production of health devices amid a further increase in imports for medical equipment and raw materials for the production of medicine.
The ambition was expressed on Tuesday when state-owned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma launched its rapid test strips, a device made of paper that helps doctors quickly identify illnesses through blood or urine.
On Tuesday, the company started distributing test strips for Hepatitis B and pregnancy at its outlets. It aims to make similar test products such as for malaria, dengue fever and syphilis.
“I am very proud of these findings,” Nila said at the launch in Denpasar, Bali. “But let’s push for more [innovations], especially for diseases like dengue fever and malaria that are a national concern.”
She also boasted about state-owned vaccine producer Bio Farma’s biosimilar drugs – a generic medical product for breast cancer patients set for release in 2019. Bio Farma will sell the generics for Rp 7.5 million (US$531), while its Swiss-made counterpart costs Rp 25 million.
The product will help mitigate the impact of the ministry’s controversial decision to remove coverage of breast cancer drug trastuzumab from the list of medicines covered under the national health insurance program.
Nila further claimed Indonesia had exported hospital beds to Africa, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, with Bio Farma said to have earned US$71.6 million from its exports to African countries in 2018.
