Web Desk
Pakistan has become the “second Muslim country” in the world after Turkey to produce heart stents endogenously that were imported by the South Asian nation from other countries, spending millions of dollars every year.
As a pilot project, N-Ovative Health Technology Facility at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has been developed in the capital, Islamabad.
According to the office of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the facility will be the first to locally manufacture cardiac stents, adding that it will also make Pakistan the 18th country in the world to do so.
Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI inaugurated a cardiac stent manufacturing unit at National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad, earlier today.
Pakistan becomes only the18th country in the world to manufacture cardiac stents. 🇵🇰#PakistanMovingForward pic.twitter.com/XDCDMrahus
— Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) October 16, 2020
“ Local manufacturing of the stents will help country save Rs 8 billion annually in foreign exchange. Congratulations to the nation and scientists,” the advisor to Prime Minister on Media, Shahbaz Gill said.
Other major producers of the stents include- US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan,
Brazil, China, and India.
The volume of global stent market for both types of stents-Drug Eluting Stents (DES) and Bare metal Stents (BMS) is presently over US $ 5 billion.