KUALA LUMPUR, August 28 — MCA has told the Ministry of Health (MOH) not to downplay the severity of the country’s unprecedented insulin shortage, but to acknowledge the crisis and take urgent action.
MCA deputy secretary general Dr Pamela Yong cited CodeBlue’s reports and even DAP MP Dr Kelvin Yii’s statement on the widespread shortage of human insulin.
“The Ministry’s claim that only one supplier faces issues fails to address broader concerns about insulin supply across various states,” Dr Yong said in a statement yesterday.
“The reliance on insulin analogs and oral medications, while helpful, is only a temporary fix. The recurring nature of this problem highlights significant flaws in the government’s management of diabetic treatments. We need to take immediate action to protect diabetic patients.”
At a press conference held at the sidelines of an event last Monday, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad dismissed characterisation of the insulin shortage as a “crisis”, saying he has not heard of diabetes patients not being prescribed human insulin.
Doctors, pharmacists, and patients have told CodeBlue about reduced supplies of human insulin for diabetes patients for at least the past three months since May, with patients given just two to three days or one week’s supply, instead of one month’s supply like usual.
Some public health care facilities, including Klinik Kesihatan, have already completely run out of insulin stocks.
“The government should, at the very least, acknowledge the crisis and assess the insulin supply situation to identify and address stock level and distribution issues,” MCA’s Dr Yong said.
“Additionally, they should engage in solutions that include expanding the supplier network by engaging additional local and international suppliers and resolving production issues with existing suppliers.
“Ensuring a continuous, undisrupted supply of insulin requires revising procurement policies, developing contingency plans, and investing in production and logistics. Strengthening collaboration with stakeholders and enhancing regulatory oversight will help prevent shortages. Educating patients and providers on managing diabetes during such periods are also crucial.”
Unlike short-term insulin shortages in previous years, the current shortage has forced the MOH to plan drastic measures, like switching 45 per cent of eligible diabetes patients from human insulin treatment to the significantly more expensive SGLT2 inhibitors and insulin analogs.
The MOH has even listed priority groups for insulin naive patients to start insulin treatment: Type 1 diabetes patients, pregnant women, and patients with serious kidney failure.
Dr Yong pointed out that insulin shortages could lead to severe complications like hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and life-threatening conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).
“Vulnerable populations, for example those in rural areas, are particularly at risk. Interruptions in insulin therapy can result in unstable blood sugar levels and deteriorate long-term health management. Additionally, the stress and anxiety caused by such shortages can negatively impact patients’ mental health.”
Dzulkefly has blamed the current human insulin shortage on the failure of Indian biosimilars company Biocon Biologics – which operates an insulin manufacturing facility in Johor – to meet its contractual obligations. Biocon supplies 80 per cent of MOH’s human insulin supply, while the remaining 20 per cent is Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk’s insulin.
Crucially, the health minister did not specify if any other drug maker has already officially participated in any new tenders for human insulin, merely saying that the MOH was still looking for alternative suppliers.
He also claimed that current human insulin supply could last until the end of the year.
According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023, Malaysia’s diabetes prevalence is 15.6 per cent, affecting 3.6 million adults. It is unclear how many people with diabetes are currently on human insulin, or how many new patients need to initiate insulin treatment because oral antihyperglycemics are no longer effective in glucose control.
