KUALA LUMPUR: The government has taken steps to maintain medicine prices at their current level, says Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni (pic).
He said among these steps was entering into three-year acquisition contracts with medicine suppliers.
“This ensures that prices will remain stable and not increase for three years while also saving the government costs such as advertising new tenders.
“This has made contract monitoring more effective while also ensuring there is no sudden cut in supply during the contract period,” he said during Ministry Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (March 11).
He added that the ministry continued to engage in pool procurement of medicine with teaching hospitals under the Higher Education Ministry and military hospitals under the Defence Ministry.
“This joint acquisition saved the government an estimated RM179.6mil in the procurement period 2020 to 2022,” he said in reply to Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh (PN-Pasir Puteh), over concerns that medicine prices could increase by up to 10%.
Muhammad Zawawi also asked about the possibility of having localised general medication production as an alternative supply.
To this, Lukanisman said the ministry had plans to do so but this required more research and cost assessment.
“We are not at the right stage yet to create such an ecosystem in the country,” he said.
