Necessary: Health supplements are vital to supplement deficiencies in the modern diet. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
“YOU do not need dietary supplements at all.”
That might sound unexpected coming from the Malaysian Dietary Supplement Association (Madsa) president, but Datuk Dr M. Rajen has a caveat.
“If you plant your own vegetables and fruits and get the freshest fish from the cleanest waters, I don’t think you need supplements at all.
“But do you get that in the modern diet?”
The answer, he says, is that most of us don’t.
“The word supplement is a very important word. It is supplementing deficiencies in the modern diet.
“Even the most conservative doctors accept the idea of supplementation. For example, every doctor will tell a pregnant woman to take folic acid,” he says to Sunday Star.
But prices of dietary supplements have been on an upward trend since last year due to factors such as an increase in overall cost and the currency exchange rate, says Dr Rajen.
He previously said Madsa was anticipating a price increase of between 3% and 8% this year, after taking into consideration the sales and service tax (SST).
On top of that, there are the looming tariffs from the United States, which are expected to affect the prices of dietary supplements as well, whether directly or indirectly.
As such, Madsa has called for the government to look into efforts to make supplements more affordable and easily accessible, including SST exemptions and other tax reliefs.
To that end, Madsa has been working with relevant stakeholders such as the Health Ministry and the Finance Ministry to push for this.
Madsa believes that making dietary supplements more affordable can reduce the burden on the healthcare system and prevent people from resorting to potentially dangerous, unregulated alternatives.
Dr Rajen says affordable supplements mean people can take more responsibility for their own health, which will boost the general health of the population.
This way, it can reduce the reliance on insurance to cover expensive medical bills, he says.
He points to existing government efforts to control rising insurance premiums – a symptom, he says, of the growing cost of getting sick.
“Why can’t the government also at the same time allow or make easier access to dietary supplements, which we will buy with our own money and hopefully reduce the need for insurance?” he asks.
Most people are aware of dietary supplements but more work still needs to be done to raise awareness of consuming supplements in a healthy way, which is something Madsa intends to work with the government on.
This increased awareness plus affordable supplements could help prevent people from buying such products from unregulated vendors, especially online.
“We don’t like this where supplements are being bought at an unregulated outlet where there is no proper education, endorsement, certification and protection.
“People think they are getting a better offer, something cheaper or something that cannot be found in Malaysia [when they buy from unregulated vendors].
“We will do whatever we can to educate people not to do so.”
