The Ministry of Health (MOH) has announced that the authorities have blocked access to 1675 websites selling illegal pharmaceutical products in Malaysia. The action was taken under Operation Pangea XVI nationwide from 3 to 10 October, with various products worth over half a million ringgit also confiscated.
According to Bernama, MOH Pharmacy Services senior director Norhaliza A Halim revealed that 76 per cent of the websites were detected selling illegal pharmaceutical products through e-commerce platforms. Complaints regarding the websites were sent to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), social media providers and e-commerce platforms which then blocked access and took down the content.
MOH further revealed that Operation Pangea XVI was coordinated by Interpol and targeted the online advertising, supply and sale of unregistered or counterfeit pharmaceutical products worldwide. In Malaysia, it was coordinated by the MOH's Pharmaceutical Enforcement Division.
It was also noted that there has been an increase in the sale of controlled drugs by unqualified or unauthorised sellers in Malaysia. These include psychotropic substances, painkillers, antibiotics and cough medicine.
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