KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 – Malaysia is expected to recover from the ongoing nationwide shortage in medicine and medical supplies by the fourth quarter of this year, Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin told Parliament today.

He said his ministry is taking several initiatives to address the current shortage, including encouraging local pharmaceutical companies to produce their own medicines using active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) obtained through a public-private collaboration.

“Now, there is a sudden increase in demand for medicines for the treatment of diseases such as fever, cold and cough. For example, the sale of paracetamol medicine was found to have increased by 238 per cent for the first quarter of 2022 compared to the sales data for the first quarter of the previous year.

“This high demand has led to a shortage of supply for some types of medicine despite increased production by local manufacturers.

“In addition, the amount of medicine imported from abroad has also been increased,” he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.

Khairy was responding to a question from Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, who wanted to know if the government has plans to establish a National Medicines Security Policy.

She also wanted to know if a buffer stock for medicine would help stabilise supply.

Khairy also gave an assurance that the government is constantly monitoring medicine prices and will step in when necessary, in reply to questions on yo-yoing prices.

“Although the stock is low, the government always monitors the price in the market. If it rises suddenly, we will do something to ensure there is price control and it has been done before,” he said.

Again using paracetamol as an example, he said his ministry has agreed to release the buffer stock from the government for sale in the market to address the current shortage.

Khairy added that since July 22, the Ministry of Health has received orders from 220 private hospitals and clinics for medicine supplies.

“We will send two packs, with each pack containing 1,000 seeds, to each clinic and five packs to each hospital. The price we charge is the original market price as purchased by the government.

“There are three more types of medicine that we can release and we are receiving orders from hospitals and clinics which involve cold and asthma medicine,” he elaborated.