The weaker ringgit, rising raw material prices and logistics costs have driven medicine prices up by 8% over the last few months, say industry players.

They said the price increases were expected to continue.

A marketing manager of a local pharmaceutical company, Oh Tong Keong, said the price of raw materials used in medicine production had increased by 10% to 15% year to date as a result of the ringgit weakening against the greenback.

This has led to medicine prices going up by 8%.

Oh said his company still had existing stocks of raw materials and would be able to cushion the price increase for the time being.

“Prices of imported new raw materials have increased by an average of 10% to 15%, and the price of the drugs will be adjusted accordingly.

“The prices of drugs produced from March to May have been adjusted upwards, and these drugs are following market prices,” he added.

He said diabetes and hypertension drug prices remained unchanged, but the prices of cholesterol medicine and antibiotics had been on the rise.

Oh urged the public not to hoard medicines and to only purchase them as and when needed.

He also said that apart from the price increase in raw materials, there had been a 100% increase in the price of bottles used in packaging medicines.

Malaysian Pharmacists Society president Amrahi Buang is anticipating another 5% increase in medicine prices.

Imported medicines, including those sourced from India and Europe where transactions are done in US dollars, will definitely be affected.

“As long as you trade in US dollars, it will go up. It is not because of the medicine, but from which company you buy and from where you buy,” he said.

Amrahi said medicine prices were going up annually prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, but since then, price increases occur at least twice a year.

He added that it was difficult to determine how pharmacies set their prices as it could differ depending on the type of pharmacy.

He said the government should monitor the price of medicines in the market.

Meanwhile, speaking on the condition of anonymity, a general practitioner said medicine prices had been increasing every six months “for a long time now”.

“There doesn’t seem to be any form of regulation or enforcement on this,” he said.

He added that prices would increase when there was a shortage in the market.

However, even when stocks are replenished, the prices are not reduced.

According to Aon’s 2022 Global Medical Trend Rates Report, Malaysia’s estimated medical inflation rate is 12% and is increasing at an average of 10-15% annually.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by KHOO GEK SAN and RAGANANTHINI VETHASALAM

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