Unregistered Medicines Still Sold In The Market

TAIPING, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the uncaring attitude of consumers concerning the genuineness of health and pharmaceutical products has led to the rampant dumping of unregistered products in the market.
He said enforcement alone was insufficient in addressing the problem if the public were not bothered and continued to buy products that were not registered with the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau (BKFK).
The value of seized health and pharmaceutical products that were not registered last year was RM26 million compared with only about RM6.5 million in the previous year, he said.
Dr Chua said this to reporters after launching Bosland Corp (M) Sdn Bhd and Kilang Ubatan Ketiga Industri (M) Sdn Bhd in Kamunting, here Thursday.
He said any move by consumers to boycott such products would help in efforts to control the entry of these products.
He said the public should be aware that such products were hazardous to their health as they were not free of bacteria content, heavy metal or steroid beside the fact that their quality was not guaranteed.
"For example, some of the medicines for Malaria sold in the market are actually fakes and ineffective," Dr Chua said.
So far, he said, the bureau had registered 97,959 products including 10,167 products that required prescription, that is medicines given with the permission of a doctor, 66,500 cosmetic products and 17,326 traditional medicines.
As for the traditional medicines, he said 60 per cent of them were local products while the rest were imported.