KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — Malaysia has finalised a strategic agreement with China to increase the supply of resin and naphtha, raw materials used to make plastics, for the production of critical medical devices here.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) acknowledged the “direct impact” from the global energy crisis on the availability of critical medical devices and high-risk imported products in Malaysia, while simultaneously claiming that the country’s supply of medical devices remains “stable and under control”.
“The additional supply will serve as a key catalyst in addressing current shortages of raw materials to meet the needs of the national health care system,” said the MOH in a statement today.
“This agreement was reached following strategic discussions chaired by the Chief Executive of the Medical Device Authority (MDA), who is also the Chair of the Global Harmonization Working Party (GHWP), together with the Director of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Administration and the Deputy Mayor of Pudong New Area.
“The Government of Malaysia extends its highest appreciation to the Government of China for its strong commitment in supporting the stability of the regional medical device industry supply chain for raw materials.”
MOH’s statement today came after MDA chief executive P. Muralitharan told Bernama TV last night that Malaysia was facing a “minor disruption” in the supply of consumables like gloves, face masks, implants, surgical devices, and materials for haemodialysis (HD) treatment. He also cited in-vitro diagnostic products like test kits and laboratory reagents as facing insignificant shortages.
CodeBlue recently reported on shortages of dialysers and canister or bottle packaging for HD concentrate solutions that are emerging at the distributor or supplier level. A supplier said it has stopped accepting new customers for concentrate orders.
Dialysers, also known as artificial kidneys, are a core component of haemodialysis therapy. Patients with kidney failure can die within a few days without dialysis.
National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia chairman Dr Zaki Morad Mohd Zaher told CodeBlue that dialysis centres should prepare to reduce HD frequency from three to two times a week to fit patients in an acute shortage.
The consultant nephrologist pointed out that all HD centres – including NKF that treats nearly 1,800 patients across its 32 HD centres nationwide – generally don’t stockpile dialysers or other consumables due to limited storage space and the fast-moving nature of these products.
