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Meeting highlights:
- Strengthening MedTech’s Identity and Partnerships: SAMED’s 2025 agenda focuses on distinguishing the MedTech sector from pharma, advocating for tariff-free access, and deepening partnerships with global associations, local regulators (like SAHPRA), and the Department of Health to support health technology assessment and development of an essential equipment list and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to support the MedTech Master Plan.
- Driving Ethical, Inclusive, and Sustainable Practices: SAMED has updated its Code of Ethical Marketing, expanded its Women Empowerment Index, and engaged in efforts to give voluntary codes legal authority—while pushing for equitable implementation of new employment equity regulations across a fragmented sector.
- Addressing Delayed Payments and Systemic Barriers: SAMED is tackling long-standing issues like delayed public sector payments through data-driven engagement with national and provincial health and finance departments to improve healthcare delivery and ensure business sustainability.
- Building HTA and Data Capabilities: To support evidence-based policymaking and NHI readiness, SAMED is training members on health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) and health technology assessment (HTA), engaging with data providers, and partnering with the Council for Medical Schemes to improve tracking of MedTech in national health data.
- Elevating MedTech Visibility and Governance: SAMED is investing in communication (e.g., LinkedIn, podcasts), representation at forums like BUSA and G20 events, and board diversity—with a commitment to advocacy, collaboration, and long-term impact for equitable MedTech access in South Africa.
EF: 2025 has been a year of significant change, with the G20 in South Africa, funding pressures, and geopolitical challenges. How does it look from your perspective?
TV: This year is particularly meaningful for SAMED as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. Our theme, breaking barriers, reflects our focus on impact, partnerships, and innovation.
It has been a challenging environment, especially with the threat of tariffs. Some of our local manufacturers export to the U.S., so these discussions have created uncertainty. We’ve been actively engaging through our membership in the Global Medical Technology Alliance to build a united voice calling for zero tariffs on medical technology. Unlike cars or luxury goods, MedTech is essential. Adding tariffs risks restricting patient access, and no single country can manufacture every device a healthcare system needs.
We’ve been strengthening our position as an Institute for Collaboration. That means identifying and building partnerships that will support our sector’s growth, protect access to innovation, and ensure patients get the right technologies. A priority for us is deepening our relationship with SAHPRA, making sure regulations are fit for purpose, robust, and harmonised, and engaging at the policy level with the Department of Health.
The passing of the NHI Act in May 2024 is driving a lot of movement. Regulations have been issued around governance structures, and we’ve made submissions there. There is work underway on an essential equipment list, and we’ve offered our support and expertise. We’ve built strong relationships with leaders like Professor Nicholas Crisp and Fundile Gebremedhin, which gives us the opportunity to help shape these policies in an objective and informed way.
We also encouraged a number of experts — from the private sector, consulting, and academia — to put their names forward for the new ministerial advisory committee on health technology assessment (HTA).
EF: You previously spoke about removing barriers for business. What are you focusing on in 2025?
TV: One of the most persistent issues is delayed government payment. This has been a problem for many years, but we’ve ramped up our efforts. We’re gathering data to quantify the impact on companies, on patients, and the public health system.
When companies aren’t paid, they may suspend supply, restarting only once payment is made. This stop-start pattern can severely disrupt care. To address this, we’ve been holding weekly progress meetings with Gauteng health officials and facility-level staff to identify bottlenecks. We’ve also taken the issue to the National Department of Health, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Competition, and the National Treasury. It’s become a coordinated effort to find both short-term fixes and long-term solutions.
We’re also watching new developments in local manufacturing policy. SAHPRA has published policy papers to prioritise locally manufactured health products — for now, focusing on medicines and vaccines — but there is potential for this to extend to medical devices. We’ve raised concerns about definitions: a medical device may be assembled in one country but made from hundreds of components sourced globally. We need clarity to ensure policies support the local industry without unintentionally harming access.
More broadly, we continue to advocate that MedTech policies must be fit for purpose — not just repurposed from pharmaceutical frameworks. That’s why we want to be involved in shaping the essential equipment list and health technology assessment, ensuring it reflects the unique characteristics of our sector.
EF: Ethical business is a core theme for SAMED. What progress have you made here?
TV: We updated our Code of Ethical Marketing and Business Practices last year, aligning it with that of MedTech Europe and AdvaMed. Compliance is mandatory for all members, including certification for customer-facing staff and compliance officers. It’s a big undertaking, but essential for trust in our industry.
We’re also exploring a South African conference vetting system, similar to MedTech Europe’s, to ensure clarity and consistency for members, conference organisers, and medical societies. This would level the playing field and remove confusion, particularly for members who already comply with international codes.
Before USAID funding was withdrawn, we were working with the Department of Health on giving our code and the pharmaceutical marketing code, and legislative authority. This would mean all medical device companies, not just voluntary signatories, would have to comply. While that project is on hold, we plan to revisit it, as it remains close to our hearts.
EF: How are you preparing the industry for HTAs?
TV: HTA is already well established in countries like the UK and across Europe, and it will become increasingly important in South Africa, especially under NHI. This year, we partnered with Syenza to deliver webinars on HEOR and HTA for our members.
These cover the value of innovation, health economic principles, cost-effectiveness analysis, budget impact analysis, and the types of evidence needed for reimbursement decisions. We also discuss alternative reimbursement methodologies. Building this knowledge now will help our members prepare for the future.
We’re monitoring SAHPRA guidelines, reviewing regulatory developments in other African countries, and making submissions that reflect our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and transformation.
EF: Transformation has been another priority. Can you share more?
TV: Our Women’s Empowerment Index continues to grow, and I had the privilege of presenting it at the Presidential Women’s Economic Assembly earlier this year. It’s even been called the “presidential index” in some circles, and we’re exploring how it might expand into other sectors.
We’re also responding to new employment equity targets, which require companies to employ set proportions of previously disadvantaged persons and women. The challenge for medtech is that there’s no single recognised medtech industrial sector under the Department of Employment and Labour — our members fall under retail, manufacturing, chemicals, health and welfare, and so on. This means different targets for companies that may compete with each other. Failure to comply, or justify non-compliance, could mean losing the ability to do business with the government.
We’re working closely with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) to address these issues, and for the first time, we have one of our board members as Vice Chair of BUSA’s Health Policy Committee. That visibility is crucial for distinguishing medtech from pharma, as our sector is often misunderstood or grouped incorrectly.
EF: How is SAMED leveraging continental and global relationships?
TV: Through the MedTech Master Plan, we co-fund the project manager role and have board representation across its four working groups: market access, skills, data and innovation, and regulatory.
We chair the Africa Medical Device Regulatory Working Group within the Global Medical Technology Alliance, sharing that role with Mecomed, with the aim of working closely with the African Medical Device Forum to unite regulators, share challenges, build capacity, and harmonise approaches.
We’re also participating in the AFRISummit in Egypt and have published a 10-point position paper on NHI. We have also supported SAHPRA’s application to be declared an essential service — a status we also want extended to the medtech industry to ensure uninterrupted operations in emergencies.
EF: Data seems to be a growing focus for you.
TV: Absolutely. We’ve signed an MoU with the Council for Medical Schemes to explore including medtech data in their annual reporting, which currently focuses heavily on medicines. We’re also talking to firms like Quantium, IQVIA, and Insight Actuaries about expanding access to market intelligence. We’ve created a task team to explore cost-effective ways to make this data available to our members, supporting better decisions on reimbursement, procurement, and policy.
EF: Do you think the value of MedTech is recognised in South Africa?
TV: Not as much as it should be. Pharma is more visible because it’s advertised directly to consumers, prescribed by doctors, and purchased in pharmacies. Medtech often operates in the background — essential, but not in the public eye. Most companies in our sector are small to medium enterprises, without large marketing budgets.
We’ve worked hard to change this, raising our profile through strategic engagement and communications. COVID-19 helped, as the public became familiar with PPE, ventilators, and diagnostics. The MedTech Master Plan will also help elevate our visibility.
We’re much more active now on platforms like LinkedIn, producing videos, podcasts, and YouTube content. We track engagement carefully and are exploring tools like WhatsApp for quicker, more accessible communication with members.
EF: As SAMED turns 40, what’s your message to the sector?
TV: I’m proud of the passion and commitment of our board and staff. We want every patient in South Africa to have access to the most appropriate, best-quality medtech at the right time and place.
Our membership is incredibly diverse — from multinationals to micro-enterprises — and we reflect that in our leadership. We’ve increased representation of women and younger members on our board, and we’re looking to add health economics, legal, and government affairs expertise. We’ll continue to break barriers, embrace innovation, and use tools like AI to increase efficiency and impact. The goal is not just short-term wins, but building something meaningful and with lasting impact for the future of healthcare in South Africa.
