Seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across India were newly incorporated with the ICMR-DHR Centre of Excellence (CoE) for inculcating MedTech innovations. The CoE is a joint venture of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Department of Health Research (DHR), as its name already suggests. 

The ICMR-DHR-CoEs were unveiled on June 25, Saturday, at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Madras. The purpose of these centres is to develop products and technologies in conjunction with the requirements of the National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat and Public Health Programmes of the government for their potential deployment, as reported by IANS.

"IITs being pioneers in undertaking research, innovation and prototype development, along with ICMR's strength in conducting clinical trials, validation and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) will usher a new paradigm in Make-in-India product development in the country. The ICMR-DHR CoEs at IITs will, in turn, collaborate with the medical institutes to develop need-driven, affordable and inclusive healthcare solutions for their wider adoption," ICMR said in a statement.

Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR, added, "The setting up of the CoEs at the IITs is a new ecosystem-driven approach with a mission of bringing high-end healthcare technologies for underserved communities, catering to the last mile," as per the IANS report. The report also mentions that at present, the country's healthcare sector suffers from an 80 per cent import dependency for its medical device needs.

In collaboration, ICMR-DHR has also established the Medical Product Gateway of India (mPRAGATI) at IIT Delhi under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) scheme. This has been done to support the pandemic preparedness of the country, as this scheme would develop diagnostics and medical technologies for epidemiological preparedness under its ambit.