THE Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) is concerned about news of medicine shortages in Malaysia, which has affected both the public and private sectors.
These medicines are used to treat many common diseases and a shortage could negatively impact the quality of care provided to the rakyat.
We urge the following:
Streamline approval of alternate purchase and medicines requiring special authorisation in Health Ministry facilities
Malaysia procures medicines from alternate suppliers or with special authorisation from the health director-general or pharmaceutical services senior director in two situations – when original suppliers cannot fulfil the orders or when medicines are not listed in the Health Ministry’s Medicines Formulary.
Alternate suppliers and special authorisation are necessary during shortages. Therefore, the approval process for these regulations should be streamlined to improve efficiency and reduce the waiting period for decisions.
This is important especially during situations posing public health risks such as medicine shortages, especially during an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Strengthen local manufacturing capacity for medicines
Currently, Malaysia is a net importer of pharmaceutical products in three categories: finished pharmaceutical products, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and pharmaceutical intermediates for local manufacturing.
Consequently, the supplies of pharmaceutical products have been impacted following supply chain disruptions such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War and lockdowns in China. Therefore, we must strengthen our local capacity of pharmaceutical goods manufacturing to minimise the impact from future disruptions.
This must be accompanied by good manufacturing practice to ensure all locally manufactured medicines meet the required standards of safety, quality and efficacy, in line with Malaysian National Medicines Policy. The government must provide a favourable policy, tax and regulatory climate for private sector investment in this sector.
Strengthen collaboration between public and private sectors through medicine stock loans and medicine utilisation data-sharing
The ministry’s swift action in assisting private healthcare facilities through medicine stock loans by public healthcare facilities is commendable. Collaboration between the public and private sectors should be promoted to improve healthcare delivery to patients.
These collaborations need transparent data-sharing, especially on prices and medicines utilisation. The ministry must lead and coordinate the medicine utilisation data collection process to improve current medicine procurement strategy and prioritise distribution of medicines to facilities with higher demands.
We urge the government to take immediate short-term and long-term actions This is crucial to ensure the health of the rakyat. – The Vibes, June 27, 2022
The MHC is an apolitical coalition of Malaysian health professional societies, health professionals, and citizens dedicated to improving the health of Malaysians, strengthening the Malaysian health system, and supporting health in all policies
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