PHARMACY Services Department director Datuk Che Mohd Zin Che Awang was reported in Kosmo! as saying that the sale of unregistered drugs and medication was on the rise, raising fears that the wrong use of such drugs could cause severe side effects or even death.
Data from the Health Ministry’s Drug Control Authority showed that drugs seized last year had touched RM27.3mil, an increase of RM20mil compared to the value of drugs seized a year before.
Che Mohd Zin said the ministry had launched a programme to wipe out the entry of imitation drugs and health products into the domestic market by introducing security holograms called Meditag.
“Only products approved by the ministry would have the hologram. These stickers will help consumers in identifying drugs and products approved by the ministry.”
Unregistered sex stimulants were amongst the bulk of the drugs seized by the authorities in the domestic market.
Efforts to address weaknesses amongst Malays in the business sector by organising seminars, conventions and talks have been fruitless, according to Mingguan Malaysia.
“We have for a long time talked about weaknesses amongst Malays in seminars and conventions and come up with resolutions, but without any desired results,” Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Norraesah Mohamad was quoted as saying.
She said it was now time
for everyone to work together to overcome these weaknesses.
“If we had from the start carried out the suggestions and resolutions made, we (Malays) would not be as weak as we are today,” she said at an Urban Malay Convention on Saturday.
She said, for instance, biotechnology research in the country was a field dominated by Malay researchers but, “unfortunately, it is not wholly commercialised.”
