PETALING JAYA: She sells “red pills” which ostensibly help in reducing weight.
“I make herbal concoctions and pills for slimming. I named it the red pill. Sales have been great. People would buy them,” said the traditional medicine practitioner based in Kelantan.
She added that there is high demand for traditional medicines.
“When the price is low, there is a market for it. Buyers want cheap products. I make a good profit from just selling this homemade medicine online,” she said, declining to be named.
She admitted that restrictions on social media platforms are not that tight and sellers are able to market their products without many questions, especially in terms of certification.
But she was tight-lipped when asked whether she had received complaints about any side effects from her red pills.
Checks by The Star on e-commerce sites found that pills, powders and creams made of herbal and natural ingredients are widely available.
Many are sold on the premise that they have no side effects.
Some of these products have no labels either. They are marketed simply as homeopathy medicines that could supposedly cure a host of issues including piles, skin conditions and tonsillitis.
A foreign worker, who only wanted to be known as Leya, said she would buy boxes of abortion pills and morning after pills from her country and sell them to other foreign workers in Malaysia.
“Sometimes their Malaysian friends would buy from me too. It is not easy to buy such pills here due to restrictions and the need for prescription,” she said.
“So, they self-prescribe and they come to me when they are desperate to prevent pregnancy.”
She said the boxes are usually hidden carefully among clothes in her suitcase or decanted and kept in vitamin bottles to evade airport security.
“It helps me earn an extra income in Malaysia as I am able to get these medicines for a cheap price in my country,” she said.
Federation of Chinese Physicians and Acupuncturists Associations Malaysia president Prof Dr Ng Po Kok acknowledged that there are indeed many counterfeit traditional medicines in the market.
“We advise the public to check whether the products are registered with the Health Ministry. Look for the MAL registration number,” he said.
He said consumers should not buy traditional medicines from roadside stalls, door-to-door sellers or even some online platforms.
“If they wish to take traditional medicines, it is recommended that they first consult a licensed and registered TCM practitioner recognised by the Health Ministry to ensure safe usage,” he said.
The most common forms of counterfeit traditional medicines found in the market are those claiming to treat rheumatism and relieve pain for the elderly.
“Many of these are locally produced counterfeits,” he said.
He also urged the Health Ministry to strengthen enforcement against illegal importation of traditional medicines and to organise more public awareness programmes to educate the public on how to identify registered products.
Coalition of Traditional Malay Medicine Practitioners Association Malaysia founder and president Assoc Prof Adzhar Latif said unregistered medicines usually come in the form of tablets, capsules, powder or liquid.
As certified practitioners, he said they could dispense such medication directly to the people.
“We compound it. We can do it ourselves and dispense it to the patient,” he said.
