In order to help governments, medical device users, and regulators as far as their product selection, utilization decisions, and also product selection are concerned, the World Health Organization has gone ahead and unearthed an online platform.
Medical Devices Information System, or MeDevIS, as it is referred to, happens to be the first global open access clearing house that offers information pertaining to medical devices that are used in testing, diagnosis, and treatment.
It is well to be noted that the MeDevIS platform has 2,301 kinds of medical devices that are used across numerous health challenges, such as maternal, reproductive, newborn, and child health; as well as diseases that are non-communicable, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, in addition to infectious diseases like COVID-19.
According to the WHO assistant Director General for Access to Medicine and Health Products, Dr. Yukiko Nakatani, the amount of medical technology that is being used in healthcare is seeing an upsurge, and so is their complexity, all of which can make it challenging for the healthcare practitioners as well as patients to pass through. They are looking forward to offering a one-stop shop pertaining to international information that can prove to be invaluable for the ones who are making decisions in case of lifesaving medical technologies, specifically in settings that are resource-limited and also to enhance access.
Over 10,000 varied medical devices across the world happen to be made use of when it comes to disease prevention, treatment, or diagnostics, along with rehabilitation. All these products are a gamut of complexity that ranges from simple offerings such as pulse oximeters as well as digi-thermometers, single-use syringes, and also medical masks to more intricate devices like electrocardiograms, diagnostic lab tests, endoscopes, radiological techniques, as well as tech used for treatments like hemodialysis units and implantable prostheses, cardiac stents, radiotherapy equipment, etc.
As of now, there happen to be many distinct resources of information that are produced by some of the prominent international organizations, donor agencies, and regulatory bodies, thereby making it quite a task for the users to discern as well as make use of most of the data that’s dependable, says WHO. Due to MeDevIS, users can go ahead and check devices that they need, such as type and level of healthcare systems, so as to support the devices, the scope of the product, as well as infrastructure needed across other categories.
MeDevIS goes on to replace a paper-based literature search throughout multiple publications with the non-standard device names, which in a way can be too intimidating as well as confusing for the patients along with users. In addition to offering a single platform. MeDevIS also looks to help simplify medical device naming.
There are two international naming systems for medical devices that are referenced by MeDevIS: the European Medical Device Nomenclature- EMDN which happens to be mostly made use of in European nations when it comes to registration in the European database, and the Global Medical Device Nomenclature- GMDN, that is used in regulatory agencies across Canada, the UK, Australia, the US, and also other member states. The naming systems go on to include coding as well as definitions and can be made use of across every nation so as to go ahead and help registration in terms of regulatory approval, procurement as well as supply, inventories when it comes to health facilities, tracking, and also pricing.
According to Dr. Deus Mubangizi, who is the director for Health Products Policy and Standards in the Access to Medicines and Health Products Division at the WHO, the MeDevIS platform can indeed be useful for national policymakers so as to develop or even update their own national list in terms of procurement of health tech as well as devices and can go ahead and contribute towards universal health coverage progress. All this can also aid agencies in health insurance as well as reimbursement policies for patients.
It is worth noting that MeDevIS is the first time WHO has gone on to develop a global repository on medical devices that is based upon its experience with the WHO Priority Medical Devices List- MDL which itself happens to be based on the experience of coming up with the WHO Essential Medicines List- EML. EML, which is completing half a century in 2025, happens to be regarded as the pillar of public health across the world.
The fact is that WHO is going to continually enhance the MeDevIS base by way of engaging numerous stakeholders as well as partners and expanding it with more tech as well as devices that are used across many health areas that include emergency settings, in addition to pandemic.
