The World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched MeDevIS, the first global open access clearing house for information on medical devices and technologies.

The platform currently provides information on 2301 product categories, including communications software, laboratory information systems, and image archiving systems.

The WHO says it is engaging with multiple stakeholders and partners to include additional technologies and devices used in various health areas.

The platform is intended to assist governments, regulators, and users in making informed decisions regarding selection, procurement, and reimbursement of these tools.

MedevIS also aims to simplify the coding of medical devices. It includes both the European Medical Device Nomenclature (EMDN) and the Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN), which is used by regulatory agencies in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA.

The naming systems include coding and definitions and can be used in every country to facilitate registration for regulatory approval, procurement and supply, inventories in health facilities, tracking and pricing.

MedevIS can replace paper-based literature searches across multiple publications with non-standard device names.

Speaking at the official launch of the platform, WHO assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, Yukiko Nakatani, said the number of medical technologies used in healthcare is growing, as is their complexity.

“We aim to provide a one stop shop of international information, which can be invaluable for those making decisions on life-saving medical technologies, especially in resource-limited settings, and to improve access,” Dr Nakatani said.

WHO director for health products policy and standards in the access to medicines and health products division Deus Mubangizi said the MeDevIS platform could be useful for national policymakers to develop or update their own national lists for procurement of health technologies and devices.

According to the WHO, there are over 10,000 different medical devices in existence. Currently there are multiple, separate sources of information produced by major international organisations, regulatory bodies, and donor agencies, making it difficult to discern the most reliable data.

In MeDevIS, devices and technologies are categorised according to coding, level of health care systems to support the device, scope of the device, and infrastructure required, among other categories.