GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Health Department (JKNPP) seized 70,000 boxes of unregistered traditional products and 70 boxes of unnotified cosmetics worth a total of RM10.1 million under Ops Joint in Jelutong on Nov 4.
State Health director Datuk Dr Fazilah Shaik Allaudin said the department, through the Penang Pharmacy Enforcement Branch (CPF) and with the cooperation of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), carried out the special operations on two premises in Jelutong.
"Based on public information and intelligence carried out, we raided the two premises and, upon inspection, found 70,000 boxes of unregistered traditional products and 70 boxes of unnotified cosmetics worth a total of RM10.1 million," she said in a statement.
She advised consumers to be cautious and not easily influenced by advertisements or testimonies on websites, social media platforms as well as e-commerce applications which make absurd medical claims.
"The public can check the validity of the product registration and cosmetics notification by visiting the website https://www.npra.gov.my in the 'Product Status' section or contacting the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) at 03-78835400 or downloading the NPRA Product Status application for free via Google Playstore, AppStore and Huawei AppGallery," she said.
Dr Fazilah said the "Tolak Ubat Tidak Sah" (Reject Unauthorised Medicine) campaign, abbreviated as "TOBaTS", is a new initiative by the Pharmacy Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Health (MOH) to combat the issue of illegal supply and sale of medicines in Malaysia.
"The public is also encouraged to report or channel information on the sale of unregistered products via https://www.pharmacy.gov.my, Public Complaints Management System (SisPAA) at https://moh.spab.gov.my or call 03-78413200," she said. -- Bernama