Medicine supply under control, avoid panic buying - Dr Noor Azmi

Its deputy minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said the people should understand that the effectiveness of medicine in treating a disease is the same regardless of brands or manufacturers.

"For example, there are various medicines for high blood pressure. Some are patented, while others are generic, but all of them have the same effect. So, if brand A is not available, we can replace it with medicine from brand B," he told reporters after officiating at the ministry-level Nutrition Month Malaysia at a shopping complex in Cheras Selatan here today.

He added that the ministry was constantly monitoring the situation and would take stern action on any quarters who tried to take advantage by manipulating the prices of medicines in the market.

Earlier, in his speech, Dr Noor Azmi said the theme of this year's Nutrition Month Malaysia is "Fight COVID-19 and NCD (non-communicable diseases) with Healthy Eating".

"We hope to further increase public awareness on the importance of practising healthy eating in fighting various communicable or non-communicable diseases," he said.

Dr Noor Azmi also said that the National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2019 found that one in two Malaysian adults was overweight or obese.

"This is very dangerous because it causes various diseases, reduces productivity and puts a burden on health care services," he said.