PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry does not rely solely on Pharmaniaga Bhd, instead it deals directly with other pharmaceutical companies to ensure sufficient supply of medicines in the country.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said so far, the supply of medication nationwide is not affected, following the company's financial troubles.
"Medical supplies are not affected. Pharmaniaga is only involved from the perspective of distribution or logistics.
"We also have several ways for pharmaceutical service by dealing directly with the companies involved so that supply is not affected," she told reporters after lauching the Healthcare Facility Management Conference and Exhibition (HcFM CONFEX) 2023 here, today.
In April this year, Dr Zaliha said Pharmaniaga's provision of medicines and medical supplies to the ministry's facilities would be extended for a period of 10 years, following the end of the interim period in June.
Prior to that, the negotiation date for the Pharmaniaga concession agreement had been extended to June this year after the company posted a loss of RM607.32 million for the financial year ending 31 Dec 2022, compared to a net profit of RM172.15 million the previous year.
The loss was due to a RM552 million provision for "slow-moving stocks of Covid-19 vaccines" that pushed the company under the financially troubled PN17 category.
Pharmaniaga's revenue also declined 27.1 per cent to RM3.51 billion from RM4.82 billion due to lower demand from the government for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccine.
On a separate matter, Dr Zaliha said the transfer of healthcare workers from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak is being done to meet the needs of facilities facing staff shortage.
"Vacancies in facilities in the peninsula will be immediately filled to ensure that health services are not affected.
"We are working on that and it will be done as soon as possible," she added.
A health portal reported that about 1,000 medical officers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor would be transferred, thereby affecting major hospitals in the Klang Valley, including Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
