Pharmacy Bill to be tabled soon

The Pharmacy Bill would be finalised before being tabled in Parliament soon, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said discussions with the various stakeholders were already over and the ministry was now waiting for approval from the Attorney-General's Chambers before the bill could be tabled.

"So far we, are moving ahead, generally everything is okay but the only issue is who has the right of dispensing (medicines).

"We feel the current system should be allowed to operate, while liberalising it a bit, so that it will give patients more choices in getting medicines," he told a press conference after opening the Insight Conference 2017 organised by the Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC), here, Tuesday.

This second such conference for two days beginning Tuesday, gathers health industry players from across the world to discuss and exchange views on the latest challenges facing the industry.

Dr Subramaniam said the government targeted RM1.5 billion in revenue to be generated through the health tourism industry in 2018.

"Malaysia continues to be the choice health tourism destination because of its prevailing quality healthcare.

"Last year, over 921,000 tourists came to Malaysia for medical treatment which generated more than RM1.2 billion in income. This figure did not include outside and other expenditure which also contributed to the country's economy," he said.

According to him, most of the tourists who came for medical treatment were from Indonesia, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Japan and Middle Eastern countries.

"The biggest markets are Indonesia, Singapore and a number of other countries whose nationals seek specialist medical treatment.

"For example, tourists from China come for treatment such as in-vitro fertilization, while those from Australia seek treatment where their medical insurance might not cover, like dentistry," he said.

Dr Subramaniam also noted that out 74 private hospitals registered with MHTC, 19 were categorised as elite hospitals which were the focus of marketing by MHTC. -- Bernama