The White Paper on Advancing the Medical Device Industry through Local Innovation in Thailand 2024 provides a comprehensive analysis of the current status, potential, and challenges of Thailand’s medical device industry. It offers recommendations to foster growth through domestically developed innovations. Strengthening Thailand’s local medical device sector will not only improve public health security and reduce government healthcare expenses but also create economic opportunities and enhance the country’s capacity for innovation.
Why cultivate a domestic medical device industry?
- Reducing dependence on imports: Thailand currently imports medical devices worth THB 73 billion annually, with THB 52 billion covered by the government budget. Building domestic production capabilities could cut import costs, strengthen negotiating power with international suppliers, and potentially save over 30% of the government’s healthcare budget.
- Empowering health equity in remote areas: Small hospitals in rural areas often lack essential medical devices, resulting in lower health security for populations in remote regions. For example, Bangkok has 24.7 CT scan machines per million people, while the entire northeastern region has only 7 machines per million. A strong local industry could help close this gap, providing better access to healthcare for remote areas.
- Improving public health security: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted Thailand’s vulnerability due to shortages of critical medical devices and supplies, such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, bronchoscopes, AEDs, diagnostic test kits, and N95 masks. Global supply chain disruptions made it difficult to import these items, underscoring the need for a self-reliant domestic industry.
Supporting the local medical device industry could significantly reduce costs and drive economic growth. The BCG Subcommittee on Medical Devices estimates that developing this sector could generate a socio-economic impact worth over THB 100 billion, create more than 5,000 jobs, and improve access to medical devices for over one million people in rural areas. For long-term public health security, Thailand must shift healthcare expenditures towards building national capacity for medical innovation, reducing import reliance, enhancing health equality, and ensuring preparedness for future crises.
Policy recommendations for long-term public health security:
- Develop human resources in biomedical engineering: Align educational programs with industry needs to create a skilled workforce for medical device manufacturing. Key stakeholders include biomedical engineering networks and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
- Manage research funding across the value chain: Ensure research funding supports the entire value chain of medical devices and aligns with market demands. Key stakeholders include the Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) and other medical funding agencies.
- Build confidence and reduce market entry barriers: The Comptroller General’s Department should mandate that public health providers prioritize purchasing medical devices from domestic producers, with exceptions only when local products are unavailable. Additionally, incentive measures should be introduced to support local manufacturers.
- Establish platforms to support medical device SMEs: Create a central body to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with market intelligence, business incubation, access to funding, and networking with researchers, medical professionals, and manufacturers. This platform would also help SMEs navigate standard testing and regulatory approval processes. Key stakeholders include medical device promotion agencies in both the public and private sectors and the Board of Investment (BOI).
The White Paper on Advancing the Medical Device Industry through Local Innovation in Thailand 2024 (Thai-language version) is available for download at: https://www.nxpo.or.th/th/report/26057/
