Doctors groups are calling on the MACC to probe allegations that a cartel of 20 companies is controlling the supply of pharmaceutical drugs to the Health Ministry.
"If this allegation is true, it would surely have increased the cost of healthcare.
"It is a great dereliction of duty on the part of the guardians of the sick and downtrodden in this country," Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia (MPCAM) president Dr Peter Chan Teck Hock said in a statement today.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) was also quoted by news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) as urging the MACC to get involved in the case.
In a statement later today, MMA president Dr Ravindran Naidu said the revelation was distressing, especially at a time when hospital budgets have been cut resulting in some patients being told "to buy their own medicines because of lack of budget" and a myriad of cost-cutting measures in healthcare facilities.
FMT reported yesterday that 20 companies with links to prominent politicians, including a former minister, had control of the medicine supply chain by acting as "tendering agents" and securing contracts worth RM3.7 billion between 2013 and 2016.
International pharmaceutical companies allegedly deal only with the tendering agents to ensure a virtual monopoly on the supply of medicine.
Public policy group the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy said the government should consider appointing a health procurement ombudsman to review the Health Ministry's practices.
"The ombudsman will investigate and address procurement-related complaints against officials and practices to ensure that there is no abuse of power, corruption or maladministration.
"Reports should be tabled in Parliament and made public," Galen Centre chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib said in a statement.
Earlier today, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad reiterated his pledge to ensure transparency in the medicine supply chain. - Mkini
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