22nd conference of Asian Harmonisation Working Party inaugurated

New Delhi, Dec 5 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel on Tuesday inaugurated the 22nd conference of Asian Harmonisation Working Party (AHWP).

The conference aims to develop and recommend approaches for the convergence and harmonisation of medical devices regulation in Asia.

The five-day conference is being conducted by Central Drugs Standard Control Organization and National Drug Regulatory Authority of India in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

AHWP was established in 1999 as a voluntary non-profit organisation of the 30 national regulators of member countries and industry members to promote regulatory harmonisation on medical device regulations in Asia and other regions.

"It was set up in accordance with the guidance issued by International Medical Device Regulators Forums. The AHWP works in collaboration with related international organisations such as International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF), WHO, International Organization for Standardization," said a statement from the Health Ministry,

The government intends that with such efforts, affordable medical devices to the best of the quality standards, is made available to the citizens across the vast and diverse geographical locations.