RM12.4m worth of fake medicines seized this year

[NeverSayDie]

RM12.4m worth of fake medicines seized this year

Ili Liyana Mokhtar
New Straits Times
Friday, Aug 02, 2013

MALAYSIA - For the first half of this year, the Health Ministry seized 18,592 fake medicinal and health products worth RM12.4 million (S$4.85 million), the Dewan Negara was told yesterday.

Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya said 40,006 products worth RM23.7 million were confiscated last year.

"Under the Sale of Drugs Act 1952, all medicines and health supplements need to be registered with the drug control enforcement agency. They go through checks by the pharmaceutical enforcement division.

"The process before any medicine is made available in the market is stringent," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Lim Nget Yoon.

Lim had asked what measures had been taken by the ministry to eliminate the manufacturing and sale of fake medicinal products.

Dr Hilmi said medicines approved and registered by the ministry would be given a product registration number and a "meditag" hologram.

"Consumers should check for the products' registration numbers before making any purchase. The number is printed on the bottles or containers of products registered by the ministry. It usually begins with MAL, followed by eight digits and ends with a 'T' at the end, for example MAL20024420T."

"MAL" denotes Malaysia and "T" means the medicine is a traditional medicine. "A" denotes prescription medicines, "X" denotes health supplements and "V" denotes veterinary medicine.

Dr Hilmi said a meditag decoder tool which was used to ensure the validity of the hologram stickers have also been distributed to all pharmacies nationwide.

Consumers can check the ministry's website at www.bpfk.gov.my and www.pharmacy.gov.my for a list of health products that are not safe and those not registered with the ministry.

He added that apart from the usual routine checks on premises that sell medicines, the ministry conducts regular educational campaigns to inform the public of the dangers of consuming fake medicines.

"Also, after a seizure of certain products we make an announcement through the media so that people know that the products are not safe."