KUALA TERENGGANU – The Terengganu Health Department seized 544 types of unregistered cosmetic products and medicines worth RM954,727 last year.
Its director Datuk Dr Kasemani Embong said the seizures were carried out by the state Health Department Enforcement Division through a series of raids following public complaints and intelligence monitoring.
She said the raids were conducted on business premises, vehicles and residential homes that were used as sales operations centres or storage for the goods.
“However, the seized amount has dropped compared to from 2019 to 2020 which recorded 1,231 types of products valued at RM1.19 million.
“Most of the items seized were slimming pills and sex stimulants,” she said after officiating the 2023 Gerak Gempur Cakna Ubat programme here today.
Dr Kasemani said the state Health Department has also issued compounds of RM282,450 under the Sale of Drugs Act 1952, the Poisons (Amendment) Act 2022 and the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 for the period 2021 to 2022.
She said in addition to public complaints, the department also has a special team that monitors online sales and advertising of unregistered cosmetic products and medicines.
“At the state Health Department, we have 23 officers and staff responsible for pharmacy enforcement activities and they are able to conduct between five and six raids a month,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr Kasemani also advised the public to check the registration status of medicines with the Health Ministry (MoH) before purchasing them.
“To check the registration status of a product, visit the MoH website or use the FarmaChecker application that can be downloaded from Google Playstore or App Store,” she said. – Bernama, February 5, 2023
