Malaysia’s medicine supply stable and sufficient despite Iran conflict, says economy minister

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Malaysia’s supply of medicines and medical devices remains stable and sufficient despite ongoing global supply disruptions linked to the Iran conflict, with only 16.8 per cent of medicine items currently classified as high risk, Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said today.

Speaking during a Global Supply Crisis briefing livestreamed on Facebook, Akmal said the government’s latest assessment up to May 8 showed that most pharmaceutical supplies in the country remain at low risk levels.

“From the overall recorded medicine items, 72 per cent are at low risk, 11.3 per cent at medium risk, and 16.8 per cent at high risk requiring continuous monitoring and mitigation measures,” he said.

For medical devices, he said 81.7 per cent were categorised as low risk, 13.5 per cent as medium risk, while only 4.8 per cent were considered high risk.

Akmal said the higher-risk categories mainly involved raw materials and key components heavily dependent on imports, amid continuing geopolitical tensions and supply chain pressures arising from the Middle East conflict. 

Nevertheless, he assured patients and healthcare providers that supplies remained “stable and under control”.

Since the crisis began, the government through the Health Ministry has implemented several mitigation measures, including regular supply monitoring through a special task force, strengthening national buffer stocks for high-risk medicines, and diversifying supply sources through strategic cooperation with countries such as China, Japan and Uzbekistan.

Akmal also said Putrajaya had activated a “special access pathway” to expedite approval processes for importing critical medicines.

In addition, the government is seeking to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing to reduce reliance on imported products. 

“MTEN agreed that the Health Ministry will continue mitigation efforts on an ongoing basis to ensure sufficient stocks of medicines and medical devices, especially critical and high-risk items,” he said, referring to the National Economic Action Council.

He added that any cost adjustments would be implemented in a targeted manner based on actual risk levels and needs.

Akmal also said the government wanted greater transparency in medicine pricing at private pharmacies to ensure consumers are not burdened by unreasonable price increases.