PETALING JAYA: Medicine prices have soared and are expected to continue to rise next year.
The prices of some drugs increased 20% to 50% this year alone, with most companies adjusting their prices twice over the last 12 months, according to the Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild.
MCPG president Wong Sie Sing said the “normal” annual increase is between 5% and 10% but with the Goods and Services Tax coming into effect next April, consumers have to brace themselves for another round of hikes of 10% to 40% across the board.
“We sympathise with consumers and are working with the Government and stakeholders to ensure affordable drug prices,” he said.
MCPG, which represents more than 2,000 community pharmacies employing some 2,500 pharmacists, is urging the Government to set up a national health financing authority to control medical costs.
“Otherwise, drug prices could rise very rapidly,” Wong said.
There is now no price control mechanism for pharmaceuticals.
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) president Datuk Nancy Ho said the rising prices of both imported and generic drugs could force many to stop taking their medicine.
MPS is the national association for pharmacists in Malaysia, with some 4,000 members.
Ho said: “The rise in drug prices could be due to increased costs of raw materials, equipment, labour and transportation as well as the weak currency exchange, which impacts all sectors.
“GST will worsen the situation further as almost all newer medicines with better results and less side effects will be taxed 6%.”
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr H. Krishna Kumar said the cost of all drugs had risen higher than the inflation rate, warning that even tax-exempted drugs would go up with the increase in the cost of transportation and storage which are taxed.
Academy of Medicine of Malaysia council member Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan said drug prices had been increasing every six months at an average of 10% to 20% generally.
“Newer drugs to treat diabetes and hypertension have become unaffordable. Though they are the best, public hospitals do not dish out such drugs as they are pricey,” he said.
Dr Tharmaseelan, who is an MMA past president, said drugs required for long-term use should be subsidised or declared as controlled items with fixed profit margins.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences) Assoc Prof Mohamed Azmi Ahmad Hasalli said the prices of branded and generic drugs mainly for cardiovascular diseases, cholesterol lowering, diabetes, female hormone condition, allergies and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments had risen between 5% and 25%.
“The lack of a price control mechanism has caused drug prices to escalate faster than in a developed nation,” he said.
He said the situation was worse now than it was in 2012 when he published a report on a study he made comparing retail drug prices in Penang and Australia.
The report in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research said the average retail price of the 10 most prescribed drugs in Penang was between 30.3% and 148.3% higher than in Australia.
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