Q.How can i differentiate health products that are genuine and those that are not?
Answered by, Tan Zhi Shan, Sujata, Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society
Counterfeit health products will and have always been a huge thorn in the medical world and Malaysia is not excluded from this predicament. In the recently concluded Pangea XI Operation which was mounted between October 9 to 10 2018, the Ministry of Health seized a total of 251,782 illegal health products worth about RM 2.8 million, which included health products that are not genuine.
Fortunately for smart Malaysian consumers like you, there are several ways to identify whether a health product is genuine or not. The first and most crucial step is to always purchase health products at authorised and reliable places. The most obvious ones would be a community pharmacy which generally houses a wide range of health products. A community pharmacy regularly gets audited and inspected by the authorities. Hence, consumers can have peace of mind knowing that the products sold there are genuine and reliable. Other options include clinics, hospitals and authorised health product reseller stores. Avoid any purchases of health products from unscrupulous places, such as resellers in pasar malam (night markets) or stalls by the road side. Buying the products from popular online platforms can be very risky and it will be challenging to verify the legitimacy of the product as well as the seller.
Any genuine health product (referring to products in pharmaceutical dosage forms, such as tablets and capsules) in Malaysia must be a registered product. Therefore its packaging will always carry a significant characteristic: the MediTag hologram. The Meditag hologram is a high tech sticker filled with various security measures which ensures that it is very difficult to be replicated. Consumers can further check the hologram’s authenticity by downloading the MediTag Checker app on Apple or Google Play Store or head to a nearby community pharmacy Meditag Hologram with a MediTag Decoder.
In summary, always buy your health products from a reputable outlet which is highly likely to sell genuine products to its customers.
References:
- KKM seizes more than 200,000 illegal health products in Pangea XI Ops. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2018/10/28/kkm-seizes-more-200000-illegal-health-products-pangea-xi-ops.
- KKM lancar Meditag 4.0 untuk kekang produk farmaseutikal tiruan dan tidak berdaftar http://www.kosmo.com.my/negara/kkm-lancar-meditag-4-0-untuk-kekang-produk-farmaseutikal-tiruan-dan-tidak-berdaftar-1.622247
