MUSCAT: With an aim to streamline various medical devices and equipment being in used in the country, the Ministry of Health will introduce more regulations next year. According to a senior official at the ministry, a bylaw will be added to the current Pharmacy Law to regulate manufacture, import, distribution and use and disposal of medical devices and equipment. “The new bylaw will be a guideline, which will set standard specifications for all the medical devices and supplies,” Dr Mohammed Hamdan al Rubaeiye, Director-General, Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control at the Ministry of Health, told the Observer. The move aims at curbing import, sale or use of any counterfeit medical products in the country. All checkpoints at the borders will be alerted about any substandard products being imported into the country, he added.
Quality Standard
Presently, each medical institution follows its own quality standard in products and equipment and with the new bylaw, the minimum quality standard will be common for all the government and private medical institutions across the country. “Our pharmacy market is currently open and any pharmaceutical product can be imported and used here. We need to regulate the same, and control the import and use of the products. With this new bylaw, the ministry is aiming at a uniform policy for all the hospitals and clinics,” he said.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Asian Harmonisation Working Party (AHWP) for Medical Devices and Supplies being held under the auspices of Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, at the Grand Millennium Hotel. The ministry has already sent circulars to all pharmaceutical distributors to list their products being supplied in the Omani market and get approval. “Manufacturers of the medical devices or their local representative need to register their names and products with the ministry to get validation and this rule will be implemented in phases,”
Dr Rubaeiye said.
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