PUTRAJAYA: Putrajaya has given its approval to regulate medicine prices, and will gazette regulations under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
But Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said it would seek another round of consultations with the pharmaceutical industry before doing so, and work with the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry which is in charge of price controls.
“We will be using the highest ceiling price determinant. You cannot charge more than that.
“I know the private sector may not be very comfortable with this, but we have to take a solution that will fit all. We cannot be selective. It must be one that cuts across the board,” he said in an interview with the press.
He warned that if private hospital fees continue to be out of reach for the public, there will be overcrowding at public hospitals.
Dzulkefly said the ministry will use benchmark prices of medicine in Malaysia with cheaper drug prices in other countries, but did not name the countries.
He said the ceiling price will be derived from the average of the three lowest prices which will then be imposed at two points: the manufacturing stage and the retail stage at clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals. - FMT
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