Karachi: Pakistan’s first indigenously produced ventilator was handed over to the Burns Center of Civil Hospital Karachi on Saturday, marking a milestone in the country’s journey toward medical technology self-reliance.
The handover took place at the Expo Centre Karachi during the Saman-e-Shifa Foundation’s annual conference, attended by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, Saman-e-Shifa Chairman Prof. Dr. Shahid Noor, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) CEO Dr. Obaidullah Malik, Prof. Tipu Sultan, and several leading healthcare professionals, device manufacturers, and pharmaceutical industry representatives.
The event was part of the 22nd Health Asia International Exhibition and Conferences, one of Pakistan’s largest healthcare exhibitions, which brought together over 50 local and international companies, policymakers, medical device manufacturers, and pharmaceutical leaders.
The three-day event served as a platform for showcasing innovations in healthcare technology and promoting collaboration among industry, academia, and regulators to strengthen Pakistan’s health sector.
The ceremony also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between DRAP and the Saman-e-Shifa Foundation, formalizing collaboration on developing and certifying locally produced medical devices. The MoU was signed by Dr. Shahid Noor and Dr. Obaidullah.
Under this agreement, both sides will work together to establish a Medical Devices Testing and Certification Laboratory, promote industry-academia partnerships, train local manufacturers to meet international standards, and facilitate CE marking for export-oriented production.
Speaking at the ceremony, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said Pakistan, which currently imports around 95 percent of its medical devices, could save and even earn billions of dollars through local production and export of quality products.
“We have the talent and the will. Pakistanis perform exceptionally during crises from becoming a nuclear power to defending the nation in wars. I am confident that our innovators and engineers will soon produce world-class medical devices,” he said.
Mustafa Kamal maintained that the Ministry of Health and DRAP would fully support local manufacturers through policy facilitation and regulatory reforms. “We want devices that can compete globally. Only those used successfully in Pakistan should be exported. Quality is non-negotiable,” he said, announcing that Prof. Shahid Noor would be included in DRAP’s Policy Board to strengthen the government’s collaboration with local innovators.
The minister noted that Pakistan spends over $500 million annually on vaccine imports but aims to locally produce vaccines meeting international standards in the coming years.
He also highlighted that the registration of medical products, which once took up to three years, could now be completed within 20 days through DRAP’s new online portal, under which more than 1,300 medical devices have already been registered. “This is a digital revolution in regulation. We are moving from dependency to self-reliance,” Kamal said.
Dr. Shahid Noor, Chairman of the Saman-e-Shifa Foundation, said Pakistan currently spends $2 billion annually on importing medical devices, a figure that could be reversed into $10 billion in export revenue through domestic manufacturing. “Today we are handing over the first ‘Made in Pakistan’ ventilator to the Burns Center Karachi. It’s a small but historic step toward our dream of healthcare self-sufficiency,” he said.
He urged the government to offer tax relief and ease of doing business for local manufacturers and importers of medical technology. “The pharmaceutical industry pays one percent tax, but device importers face 18 percent. This burden passes directly to patients. We must correct these inequities if we want progress,” he added.
He informed that Saman-e-Shifa Foundation, established in 2021, has been at the forefront of promoting local production of affordable healthcare technologies through partnerships with universities and industry leaders. Its new collaboration with DRAP marks the beginning of a long-term effort to position Pakistan as a competitive manufacturer and exporter of high-quality medical devices in the global market.
DRAP CEO Dr. Obaidullah Malik said Pakistan’s medical device industry faces several regulatory and technical hurdles but emphasized that DRAP was working to remove these bottlenecks. “We are committed to simplifying the process for registration, quality assurance, and export certification. Local manufacturers must be supported through a clear, efficient regulatory pathway,” he said. He added that DRAP’s partnership with the Saman-e-Shifa Foundation would bridge the gap between regulators, industry, and academia.
Prof. Tipu Sultan, a senior anesthesiologist and advisor to Saman-e-Shifa, commended the initiative, saying that indigenous manufacturing of ventilators, surgical implants, and diagnostic kits would not only reduce costs but also strengthen national preparedness in medical emergencies.
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