New Delhi, Jun 25 (IANS): The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Health Research (DHR) have unveiled ICMR-DHR-Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fostering 'MedTech' innovations at seven IITs across the country.

The ICMR-DHR-Centre of Excellences was unveiled at IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-Hyderabad, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Madras. These centres have been set to develop the products, technologies in synergy with the requirements of the National Health Mission, Ayushman Bharat and Public Health Programmes of the government for their potential deployment.

Currently, the country's healthcare sector has 80 per cent import dependency for its medical device needs. "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," said ICMR in a statement.

"The setting up of CoE at IITs is a new ecosystem driven approach with a mission of bringing high end healthcare technologies for underserved community, catering to the last mile," said Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR.

To support pandemic preparedness, ICMR-DHR has also established Medical Product Gateway of India (mPRAGATI) at IIT Delhi under Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission(PM-ABHIM) scheme to develop diagnostics and medical technologies for epidemiological preparedness.