THE Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) is concerned about the unregulated sales of Covid-19 self-test kits, especially via social media and WhatsApp.
We are concerned about the rampant sales of false kits by unqualified sellers who are neither doctors nor pharmacists.
Such Covid-19 self-test kits and their misuse will produce inaccurate results, such as false negatives, that will not help combat the pandemic.
Furthermore, given that there have been more brought-in-dead cases, the government needs to act immediately before the situation worsens.
Ideally, self-test kits should be provided free to the public. However, if the government is not able to do so, a mechanism to subsidise their cost should be put in place.
MPS urges the government to efficiently manage the sales and distribution of the kits via subsidisation or price control mechanisms, and immediately end the sales of false ones, especially by unqualified sellers.
In view of potential price control mechanisms, MPS advises the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to give a grace period of one month before implementation to assist pharmacists who have already purchased the self-test kits at a higher cost to clear out the more expensive stock.
In the event a grace period is not granted by the ministry, MPS wants a subsidy or refund mechanism to be put in place to avoid losses for pharmacists who purchased the supply in good faith.
In ensuring the price controls benefit the public, the ministry must ensure they include not only standardisation of the sales price, but also control of the cost price from suppliers. MPS has received numerous complaints from the public and pharmacists of self-test kits being sold online and via WhatsApp at extremely low prices, with no guarantee of the product being genuine.
Currently, as the ministry has only a general complaints page, MPS would like to suggest that a dedicated page be set up to enable complaints against fake products and sales by non-doctors and non-pharmacists.
This will enable the turnover of complaints to be handled efficiently and quickly by the ministry’s enforcement arm.
It is critical that a mechanism to identify false and genuine self-test kits be implemented to further protect the public. Suppliers of such kits should work on this with the ministry and the Medical Device Authority (MDA) immediately.
In addition to all the above, the ministry should help enforce MDA’s policy for conditional approval that allows only licensed pharmacies and healthcare facilities to sell self-test kits online, with a proactive approach towards barring runners and unqualified sellers from selling the kits as they do not conform to MDA’s prerequisites of stock-keeping and sharing information with customers. – The Vibes, August 20, 2021
Amrahi Buang is president of the Malaysian Pharmacists Society
