Pharmaceutical pricing in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia’s healthcare system consists of two sectors namely public and private sector. Ministry of Health (MOH) is the main agency providing healthcare services in public sector. Malaysia pharmaceutical market is dominated by prescription drugs that account for approximately 60 % of the pharmaceutical market share by value. There is no price control mechanism for pharmaceuticals in Malaysia. In fact, drug prices are not regulated in Malaysia and it is left to market forces to foster competition. However, in public sector, few price control strategies are employed by MOH to ensure fair, reasonable, affordable and stable prices of drugs. Despite various strategies formulated, there are challenges that need to be addressed. In public sector, the main challenges include escalating cost of pharmaceuticals as a result of privatization of Government Medical Store, lack of implementation of pro-generics policies and overlapping role of Malaysian Health Technology Assessment (MaHTAS) and Pharmacoeconomic Unit at Pharmaceutical Service Division (PSD) in cost-effectiveness evaluation of drugs. Similarly, in private sector, majority of the private health care providers would not follow the recommended retail price in selling medicines. In conclusion, there are several challenges that need be addressed in order to have a good pharmaceutical pricing strategy in Malaysia.