KUALA LUMPUR: The government has assured that the country’s supply of medicines and medical devices will remain stable and under control, with continuous mitigation measures being implemented, especially for critical and high-risk items, said Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
He said the matter was announced at the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) Meeting No. 12 today, which also agreed that any cost adjustments would be made in a targeted manner, based on the level of risk and actual needs.
As of May 8, he said 72 per cent of all recorded medicine items were at a low risk level, 11.3 per cent at a medium level and 16.8 per cent at a high level which required continuous monitoring.
“For medical devices, 81.7 per cent were at a low risk level, 13.5 per cent at a medium risk level while 4.8 per cent were identified as high risk. The supply of raw materials and key components is at high risk due to dependence on imported sources,” he said at the Global Supply Crisis Briefing, today.
At the same time, he said the Ministry of Health (MOH) was urged to increase efforts to ensure transparency in the prices of medicines sold in pharmacies so that the people were not burdened by undue price pressure.
Meanwhile, Akmal Nasrullah said MOH had taken structured mitigation measures in phases since the beginning of the crisis, such as implementing regular supply monitoring through the Special Task Force.
The National Buffer Stock was also created by immediately strengthening the stockpile of medicines for high-risk items and diversifying supply sources through strategic collaboration with countries such as China, Japan and Uzbekistan.
He said MOH had also created and activated a Special Access Pathway, to expedite approval of critical medicine imports and implementing local industrial development to empower national medical device manufacturers towards reducing dependence on imported products.
Meanwhile, he said the government’s priority was to ensure sufficient basic supplies, control price pressures, ensure the continuity of industrial operations, protect jobs and channel targeted assistance to groups that really need it. – BERNAMA
