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The Health | june-july, 2020
| Probe |
The Silent Killer
The counterfeit menace has infected
Malaysia’s pharmaceutical market and
is silently preying on unsuspecting
consumers
By Khirtini K Kumaran
Counterfeit medicines
and drugs are big business
in Malaysia, running into
billions of ringgit per annum.
But more than just deceiving
unsuspecting consumers into
buying fakes, it endangers
their lives, causing even death.
Despite enforcement by the relevant
authorities, the problem seems to be
getting rampant. According to the
Pharmaceutical Services Division (PSD),
the value of counterfeits and substandard
pharmaceutical products seized in
Malaysia from 2011 to 2019 amounted to
over RM350 million.
What’s worse is manufacturers of
these fake medicines, and drugs have even
shifted operations from neighbouring
countries to Malaysia. A few years ago,
GlaxoSmithKline said Malaysia was the
only country in the world where fake
Panadol had surfaced.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers
Associations (Fomca) President Datuk Dr
Paul Selvaraj said counterfeit drugs and
medicines could have serious adverse
health and safety effects on consumers.
“Further, it might not be effective at
all. Fomca considers it a severe issue in
Malaysia impacting on the consumers’
right to safety. Further, consumers may be
paying for drugs and medicines that do not
work,” he told The Health.
Duopharma Biotech Bhd Group
Datuk Dr Paul Selvaraj.
Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar.
Managing Director Leonard Ariff Abdul
Shatar said: “The prevalence in Malaysia
can be regarded as relatively low.”
He attributed it to the several initiatives
taken by the Ministry of Health, which
included the safety hologram label
introduced since 2005 and their strict
enforcement on this matter.
Fortunately, the prevalence of fakes
has not impacted Duopharma, one of the
leading pharmaceutical companies in the
country.
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS)
President Amrahi Buang estimated that
about five per cent of drugs and medicines
in Malaysia is counterfeit.
“It may be considered small, but it is still
a problem for the rakyat,” he said.
Is it a lack of enforcement, corruption or
other factors that are driving this thriving
and lucrative market for fakes? Is it a
Amrahi Buang.
losing battle for the authorities, or can this
problem be curtailed or even eradicated?
Between 2017-2019, a total of 4,169
raids were conducted by the Ministry of
Health (MoH) through the Pharmaceutical
Enforcement Division (PED) resulting in
seizures worth RM142 million.
Counterfeiting applies to both branded
and generic products and counterfeit
products. They include products with the
correct ingredients, wrong ingredients,
without active ingredients, with the
incorrect quantity of active ingredients or
with fake packaging.
Alarmingly, some people within the
drugs industry were also involved, inviting
a bigger headache for the authorities.
In Malaysia, all types of pharmaceutical
products must be registered under
the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the
division of Drug Control Authority (DCA)
by National Pharmaceutical Regulatory
Agency (NPRA).
Four primary unregistered medicines
seized in 2018 were slimming products
worth RM961,595, followed by sexual
stimulants (RM530,616), painkillers
(RM376,680) and beauty injection products
(RM137,187).
These include steroids for pain relief
products, sibutramine for slimming
products, sildenafil and tadalafil for sex
stimulants and hydroquinone for beauty
injection.
“Based on our feedback from the
National Consumer Complaints Centre,
some of the common counterfeit drugs/