EFFECTIVENESS OF LEGAL MEDICAL METROLOGY IN THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract

Safety and reliability of medical devices are becoming more emphasized as the time passess. Crisis situations such as COVID-19 have shown the negative eff ects that can be brought upon by lack of medical device surveillance mechanisms. This aim of this study is to present the results of implementation of legal metrology framework conducted by joint eff orts of the State Center of Expertise and Standardization of Medicines, Medical Devices, and Medical Equipment and Uzbek National Institute of Metrology. The study was based upon the data collected from annual performance inspectionsin all healthcare institutions in the period from 2016 to 2021 for 11 types of medical devices. Data envelopment analysis was used to derive conclusions and the results were compared with results from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results indicate that the implementation of legal metrology framework leads to a signifi cant increase in the accuracy of medical devices hence leading to increased reliability and patient safety in diagnostic and therapeutic processes.