Materia Medica Malaysiana

Hologram supplier to use more local content

PUTRAJAYA: Mediharta Sdn Bhd, the local company authorised to supply the security holograms for medicines to pharmaceutical companies, has agreed to use more local content in its production.
Health Ministry parliamentary secretary Lee Kah Choon said on Tuesday it is then expected the price of medicine and prescription drugs will not increase by as much as is anticipated now, perhaps 15 sen at the most.
"I do not know how they do the pricing as I am not in the business but if they use more local content, I would presume the price will come down and there will be more local participation," he told reporters at the ministry here.
Lee was responding to a question on why the government decided on buying the hologram from France and not from local companies, in line with the Buy Malaysian campaign.
He said the decision, to be enforced from May 1, is provided for by the law under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984, which empowers the Drug Control Authority to implement the registration of pharmaceutical products.
Its implementation would protect the interest of consumers and help the industry to stamp out fake products as, at the moment, enforcement work is challenging and ineffective, he said.
The hologram will have three security levels, and once the law is enforced, the ministry will be supplied with a machine to read the sticker during enforcement activities.
Addressing some issues confronting the industry, Lee said it has been agreed that enforcement will only be at the point of warehousing, and manufacturers need not recall their products already in the market now.
Asked why the ministry is playing the role of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in safeguarding the interest of consumers while the onus is on the manufacturers to protect their products, Lee said: "First, we are helping the manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to stamp out fake products.
"Second, since we are the ones who approved the medicine, we have to make sure they are not playing the fool with us."
On the dissatisfaction of consumers who feel they would be burdened with the price increase of at least 5.6 sen (the cost of each hologram), Lee said: "It is (a question of) whether you want to buy a product which may be fake and costs nothing at RM2, or have certain measures of security and pay 5.6 sen more, or 10 or 12 sen more."
Pointed out that there is only 7% fake products in the market, he said it could be the tip of the iceberg and the government would not want to wait until the whole market is flooded with fake products before it takes action.