KOTA KINABALU - A total of 302 essential drugs/medicine prescribed by doctors may be free from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

The minister said they were waiting for the approval for these essential medicines to be on the zero GST list.

Subramaniam also said the ministry had requested for health devices and equipment to be given similar treatment.

He assured that the impact of GST would not be felt by patients seeking treatment at government health facilities.

“No tax is imposed on the government and by the government health facilities, so even with GST (implemented), they will not be implicated,” he said during the 25th Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations (FAPA) Congress held at the Magellan Sutera Harbour near here yesterday.

Those seeking treatment at private health facilities would be the ones who would be impacted when the GST is implemented, he said.

“They will probably see an increase of about one to two percent in the price,” he said.

Subramaniam also said the pharmaceutical sector had to provide correct advice and information to the people at large so that they could make the correct choice when it came to medicine.

“It is important to give the people the right information,” he stressed.

He also disclosed that a lot of people had come up with a lot of claims on some medications and stressed that these claims must be backed with scientific evidence.

“We are trying to address this and on the need to have scientific evidence,” he said.

In his speech, the minister also spoke on the aspect on prescriptions of medicines and the need to ensure that the people are protected from incorrect prescriptions.

He said the unregulated prescription and the easy access to medication over the counter had some negative impact.

“People should not be allowed to indulge in self-prescription. We have got a greater responsibility through regulations to ensure that what reaches patients will not harm them,” he said.

Source: My Sarawak