MALAYSIA is facing a significant increase in medicine prices, with costs rising by as much as 40 per cent due to global supply chain disruptions triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said today.<\/p>\n
The minister attributed the surge to mounting pressures on logistics, transportation and global fuel prices, which have collectively driven up the cost of pharmaceutical supplies.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly, medicine prices have already begun to rise, and the impact of these cost increases has been felt, with an estimated increase of around 30 to 40 per cent,\u201d he told reporters after attending the World Hearing Day 2026 celebration on Friday.<\/p>\n
He said the impact has been even more pronounced for medical devices, with some categories recording sharp increases of up to 100 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedical device prices are higher, with some recording increases of up to 50 per cent and others reaching as much as 100 per cent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr Dzulkefly explained that supply constraints have been worsened by delays from suppliers since March, tightening availability and pushing up market prices.<\/p>\n
Despite the cost pressures, he assured that Malaysia\u2019s supply of medicines remains stable and sufficient to meet demand in the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the next three months, we still have stable and sufficient stock.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say this because it is not only within the Health Ministry\u2019s storage facilities; the industry also holds stockpiles,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He urged the public not to panic or engage in excessive stockpiling, stressing that the ministry is closely monitoring supply levels through continuous engagement with industry players.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not panic. The ministry has various measures in place, and we are also engaging with the industry to determine how much supply they have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the government is strengthening coordination with pharmaceutical companies to ensure transparent sharing of supply data, as part of efforts to safeguard the availability of essential medicines nationwide.<\/p>\n
On addressing rising costs, Dr Dzulkefly said the government is currently evaluating several policy responses, including the possible introduction of surcharges and cost-sharing mechanisms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have begun discussions on this increase, whether through surcharge mechanisms or cost transfer mechanisms, whether full or partial cost pass-through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He stressed that any decision would require careful consideration to strike a balance between sustaining the healthcare industry and maintaining affordability within the public health system.<\/p>\n
Dr Dzulkefly added that the ministry will continue to monitor developments closely to ensure healthcare services remain uninterrupted despite mounting cost pressures. – April 10, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MALAYSIA is facing a significant increase in medicine prices, with costs rising by as much as 40 per…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[103,396,61,1095,60,3883,371,173522,152651,2361,2106],"class_list":{"0":"post-391533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-inflation","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-medical-devices","14":"tag-medication","15":"tag-medicine-prices","16":"tag-middle-east-conflict","17":"tag-public-health","18":"tag-supply-chain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}