Materia Medica Malaysiana

Medicinal products must have Health Ministry approval

KANGAR: From next year, all products and equipment touted to improve health or treat ailments will require the Health Ministry's approval before such claims can be made.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the Ministry was presently drafting legislation to regulate medical and health promoting equipment and products flooding the market.
The law which would come into effect next year covers treatment and prevention products and requires approval from the Health Ministry before they can be sold commercially, he said.
“This is to prevent their abuse and the promotion of unqualified claims about their health bolstering properties.
“We have received many complaints about the products,” Dr Chua said after visiting Kangar Hospital.
The minister said such products should be clinically tested by experts before the manufacturers could make any claim about their curative or preventive benefits.
Among the questionable merchandise were those said to be able to clear toxins from the body, slimming devices, beauty enhancement products and diet food.
Current legislation on such products was inadequate “and there is a definite need for new enactments to ensure tighter enforcement to regulate their use,” said Dr Chua.
He also announced that Kangar Hospital had been selected as a teaching hospital for a private institution of higher learning next year.
“It is an honour for the hospital but the administrators must ensure that quality standards set by the Malaysian Medical Council are adhered to,” he said.
Kangar Hospital, with over 400 beds, is one of the public hospitals to be redeveloped under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
On another matter, Dr Chua said future directors of the country's public hospitals might be non-doctors and could even include nurses.
He said in developed nations, hospital directors were mostly chief executive officers who had the skills to manage a hospital.
He added that it was a waste of human resources if doctors were appointed as administrative directors instead of doing clinical work.