Malaysia Denies High drug Price Claims

The Malaysian Ministry of Health has denied claims made in an international survey that pharmaceutical prices are higher in Malaysia than in some other countries, including Canada and Australia.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng has said that many local generic equivalents are cheaper in malaysia than the branded products which are sold in developed countries, and he added that the report, published by the Consumers International Regional office for Asia, was "not true." The Ministry's pharmaceuticals division was said to have checked the report and found, according to the Minister, that "prices of most local generics were lower than branded drugs."

He conceded that the prices of some drugs were higher than in Canada, but claimed that this was because the Canadian authorities had fixed a price ceiling.