KUALA LUMPUR, November 19 — The government spent RM3 billion to purchase medicine for public hospitals and clinics in 2023, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad told Parliament today.

While answering Shah Alam MP Azli Yusof’s question, he said this was a 30 per cent increase from the RM2.3 billion in 2015 and would continue rising.

"This increase in financial allocation is consistent with the increase of the price of medicine, the increase in the number of patients and the use of new medicine in accordance with specialities usually still under the patent duration resulting in a higher price of medicine,” Dzulkefly said today.

The minister also said his ministry is working to diversify its insulin suppliers to prevent a repeat of the shortage that occurred last August when pharmaceutical companies Biocon and Novomix could not deliver the required quantity.

"If we have a policy that puts all eggs in one basket, there will be a risk. So firstly, we don’t want to be in such a situation again.

"In the future, we will not allow giving contracts only to one company to supply items like human insulin. We will expand our resources,” he said in response to Kuala Nerus MP Datuk Alias Razak’s supplementary question.

He said the government is negotiating the purchase of synthetic insulin, but noted that this was three times the price of human insulin.

He also said that the government is committed to ensuring the availability of medicines on the National Essential Medicine List by promoting increased local manufacturing, prioritising product evaluation and registration, and enhancing supply chain transparency through the development of a pharmaceutical product track and trace system.

From 2015 to 2023, the government spent RM23.2 billion on medication.