Health before profits: Medicine price transparency non-negotiable

We, a coalition of 21 Malaysian consumer organisations – comprising the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), its 18 member affiliates, the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), and the Third World Network – express our firm and collective support for the Malaysian government’s policy to mandate price display for medicines at private healthcare facilities and community pharmacies, effective 1 May 2025, under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

This move is a critical step forward for consumer rights and price accountability in Malaysia’s healthcare sector.

Self-regulation has failed – government must step in

The medical and pharmaceutical industries have had decades to self-regulate, but the results are devastatingly clear:

• Widespread price opacity
• Medicine mark-ups up to 900% in some private outlets
• Refusal to issue itemised bills and
• Medical inflation consistently outpacing national inflation for over 10 years

According to a medicine prices monitoring survey in Malaysia (2022), the median sale price variation in the private healthcare facilities by product types is unfairly extreme. For generic medicines, private hospitals have a median of 68-94% variation for the same product, whereas private clinics show a median of 75-81%. For certain medicines, the variation can even go beyond 400%.

Malaysia cannot leave this sector unregulated any longer. Healthcare is too important – too sensitive – to be governed by market forces alone.

Consumers need to have informed choices to go to the facility which can offer more reasonable or lower prices for the same medicine, and take action against those who conduct predatory pricing and profiteering from medicines sale.

“You don’t ask the fox to guard the henhouse. The government must regulate because self-regulation has failed. We’ve seen the damage unchecked profiteering has done to our healthcare costs,” Fomca CEO Dr Saravanan Thambirajah said.

Strong support for ministries

We categorically reject the assertion made by the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM), as quoted in Free Malaysia Today (16 April 2025), questioning why the Ministry of Domestic Trade is involved and implying that the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Domestic Trade (MoDT) lack industry understanding.

On the contrary, the MoH, together with the MoDT, is the most qualified authority to regulate healthcare in Malaysia. It comprises doctors, pharmacists, economists, health system analysts and consumer policy experts. They understand the nuances of pricing, supply chains and consumer burden far better than any private interest group.

We strongly maintain that Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act, under the administration of the MoDT, as the appropriate law to enforce the compliance of all sectors (not just healthcare) with price transparency (such as price labels) and fair pricing practices, which curb profiteering and predatory pricing activities.

The medical industry must also act responsibly and refrain from making misleading claims or issuing confusing narratives to the people that misrepresent the legal scope and intent of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act Act. Clear and truthful communication is essential in building a fair and informed healthcare system.

Transparency – a consumer right

This policy does not control prices, but simply mandates that all healthcare facilities and pharmacies:

• Display visible price tags on over-the-counter medicines
• Maintain accessible price lists for all other drugs sold
• Provide itemised bills upon dispensing medication
• Allow consumers to compare, evaluate and question prices before purchase

With the implementation of this drug price display policy, consumers and patients can obtain four categories of essential information about medicine sales in any healthcare facility:

• The generic name or active ingredient of the medicine and its strength or dosage
• The trade or brand name
• Price per unit (tablet, pill, vial or sachet)
• selling price per unit of package, all in ringgit

When this information becomes transparent and upfront, only then can consumers be empowered to make an informed decision and choice.

“If a provider is not overcharging, why hide the price? If you think your pricing is fair, just be transparent. Resistance to transparency is a red flag – not a virtue,” Third World Network executive director Chee Yoke Ling said.

Consumers, it’s your right; assert it

Consumers in Malaysia must act decisively to protect their health and wallets:

What you should do:

• Check for price labels: If medicines are on display, they must carry visible prices. If not, report the facility to the MoDT or the MoH.
• Request a full price list: Pharmacies and clinics are required to display a complete price list for the medicines they sell, whether through catalogues, display boards, digital platforms or other suitable methods. This information must be made available and obvious in public, not upon request.
• Demand an itemised bill: Insist on knowing what you are paying for – whether consultation, treatment or every pill and syrup dispensed. Check the bill against the display price if there is any discrepancy.
• No price, no excuse – file a complaint: Use the e-aduan system or hotline (03-78413200) to report any provider that does not comply. You can do so through Sistem Pengurusan Aduan Awam (Public Complaints Management System of the MoH: https://moh.spab.gov.my or email to: [email protected] or [email protected] for non-compliance with the requirement to display drug prices.

“This is your right. This is your money. Ask, demand and if necessary – report. The system works when consumers participate.” — Mohideen Abdul Kader, President, CAP

Global best practices support transparency

In Australia, South Korea, France and Thailand, medicine price transparency is the norm – not the exception:

• Australia’s PBS publishes medicine prices and caps costs.
• Thailand legally mandates private hospitals to publish and maintain price listings.
• South Korea audits pharmacy pricing with strong enforcement.
• France centrally negotiates drug prices and makes them publicly available.

Malaysia must not lag behind. These countries show that transparency and accountability lead to better health outcomes and more efficient spending.

The MoH’s and the MoDT’s stance aligns with the World Health Assembly’s Resolution WHA72.8 on Improving the Transparency of Markets for Medicines, Vaccines and Other Health Products (adopted on 28 May 2019). This highlights the need to take appropriate measures to promote medicine price transparency.

Embrace transparency or be left behind

We challenge the private healthcare industry:

• If your pricing is ethical, why the secrecy?
• If your margins are fair, why fear public scrutiny?

Let consumers see. Let them compare. Let them choose. This is what a mature, fair and competitive health sector looks like.

Beginning of healthcare accountability

With runaway medical inflation, mounting patient debt and price disparities across clinics, this move could not have come at a better time.

We fully back the government’s implementation of “Pemaparan Harga Ubat di Kemudahan Jagaan Kesihatan Swasta dan Farmasi Komuniti” [display of medicine prices at private healthcare facilities and community pharmacies], and we urge full and timely enforcement under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act

We also commit to:

• Monitoring implementation
• Educating the public and
• Supporting enforcement through complaint mechanisms

Issued by:

1. Federation Of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) and its 18 consumer affiliate members
2. Consumers’ Association Of Penang (CAP)
3. Third World Network

Fomca affiliates list:

1. 1. Persatuan Pengguna Selangor Dan Wilayah Persekutuan (SWCPA)
   2. Persatuan Pelindung Pulau Pinang (PCPA)
   3. Persatuan Pelindung Pengguna Kelantan (Pelindung)
   4. Persatuan Pengguna Perak (PCA)
   5. Persatuan Hal Ehwal Dan Pelindung Pengguna Sabah (Sabah Caps)
   6. Persatuan Kebajikan Pengguna Johor (JCWA)
   7. Persatuan Pelindung Pengguna Negeri Sembilan
   8. Persatuan Pengguna-Pengguna Standard Malaysia (Standards Users)
   9. Persatuan Pendidikan Dan Penyelidikan Untuk Pengguna, Malaysia (Era Consumer Malaysia)
   10. Persatuan Pengguna Air Dan Tenaga Malaysia (Wecam)
   11. Forum Air Malaysia (FAM)
   12. Persatuan Pengguna Pengangkutan Awam Malaysia (4pam)
   13. Pertubuhan Tindakan Iklim Untuk Malaysia (CAM)
   14. Persatuan Pengguna Penyelidikan Kesihatan Malaysia (Phream)
   15. Persatuan Promosi Kewangan Malaysia (Flame)
   16. Rural Consumers Association
   17. Persatuan Kebajikan Dan Kepenggunaan Wanita Malaysia
   18. Pertubuhan Pengguna Ekonomi Digital Malaysia

A coalition of 21 consumer NGOs standing for fair healthcare, price transparency, and accountability in Malaysia

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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