Day: June 13, 2021

A total of 2,600 websites offering dangerous drugs were blocked while unregistered medicines worth over RM2.2 million were confiscated in a nationwide Pangea XIV Operation from May 18 to 25.

The operation involved personnel from the Health Ministry (MOH), National Central Bureau/Interpol Malaysia, Customs Department, Communications and Multimedia Commission, Pos Malaysia and CyberSecurity Malaysia.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this year’s operation was focused on the sale of medicines and medical devices on websites and social media, as there were irresponsible sellers taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic situation to make a profit.

“This is evident as many controlled medicines purportedly for the treatment of COVID-19, face masks, thermometers, gloves, surgical gowns, COVID-19 test kits, nasal aspirators and alcohols swab are being sold online.

“Also, there is a rising trend in the sale of psychotropic substance by unauthorised sellers on the same platforms,” he said in a statement today.

Elaborating on Ops Pangea XIV, Dr Noor Hisham said a total of 972 postal parcels were also inspected, 157 of which were found to contain 9,115 units of unregistered pharmaceutical products worth RM108,352.

“Compared to last year’s operation, over 60 per cent of products seized this year were controlled medicines under the Poisons Act 1952 while 18 per cent of these controlled medicines were under the psychotropic substance category.

“The rest are high blood pressure and diabetes medications, abortion pills, anti-inflammatory drugs and others that are not registered with the MOH,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham added that inspections were also carried out at all entry points nationwide, involving air cargo, airports, border posts and ferry terminals, with 961 units of unregistered medicines worth RM42,213 seized.

He said the team also conducted targeted raids on sellers and business premises involved in online selling activities and seized 61,864 units of illegal pharmaceutical products worth RM2,071,855, as well as digital devices used to market the products such as laptops and mobile phones.

Meanwhile, he said a total of 206 awareness campaigns were also held during the Ops Pangea XIV period including on social media and at community pharmacies.

Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry was still monitoring the websites and social media accounts and intensifying its enforcement activities in order to address the sale of pharmaceutical products and medical devices online although the operation has ended.

He advised the public to ensure that health products sold online or at premises have the hologram security labels and product registration numbers before proceeding to make the purchase.

They can also check the product’s registration status at the ‘Product Status’ column at http://www.npra.gov.my or download the NPRA Product Status application from Google Play Store, Apple App Store or Huawei AppGallery.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

A Malaysian man who had completed his vaccination regime in February is among the 18 new COVID-19 cases reported on Saturday in Singapore, according to the republic’s Ministry of Health (MOH).

Labelled as Case 64169, the 57-year old man who is asymptomatic works as a land rigger at Jurong Port Pte Ltd, said MOH in its full data released late last night.

“He was detected when he was tested for COVID-19 on June 10 as part of Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). He was immediately isolated when his Antigen Rapid Test (ART) result came back positive, and a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test was administered on the same day.

“His PCR test result came back positive for COVID-19 infection on 11 June. His serology test result is negative. His cycle threshold (Ct) value was very high, which is indicative of a low viral load,” said the ministry.

MOH noted that another test taken on June 12 came back negative for COVID-19 infection.

“He is likely to be shedding minute fragments of the virus Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), which are no longer transmissible and infective to others, but we have taken all necessary public health actions,” said the ministry.

MOH said the man received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Jan 23, and the second dose on Feb 17.

Meanwhile, a 35-year old Malaysian woman is also among the new cases reported Saturday, and she is linked to Case 63399 cluster.

The first case of the cluster which now has a total of four confirmed cases involved a Malaysian man who was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on May 17.

As at noon Saturday, the republic reported a total of 62,263 COVID-19 caseload with 46 open clusters.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The drive-thru method is now among the options offered by volunteers here in distributing aid to the needy including asnaf (those eligible to receive zakat or tithe) whose livelihoods adversely affected by the Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0.

Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said the concept facilitated the distribution of aid without having to gather in large numbers and at the same time comply with standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the National Security Council (MKN).

“Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) is for the affected groups such as asnaf who have been identified in the Sungai Manik state constituency and surrounding areas.

“Appointed heads, such as from the UMNO’s Wanita and youth wings, will come over to the parliamentary service centre here to take food aid without having to leave their vehicles and then return to their respective areas for distribution,” he told the media today.

Tajuddin, who is also UMNO’s 15th General Election (GE15) director, said among the necessities provided included rice, sugar, flour, oil, sardines, instant noodles, coffee, biscuits, fish, chicken and meat placed in special containers.

He said that the drive-thru concept, among others, helped reduce congestion and the risk of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and it should be expanded to facilitate helping those in need when the pandemic struck.

In another development, Tajuddin, a former chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (Prasarana) was planning to take legal action against those who have tarnished his reputation following a collision involving two Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains on May 24.

“I was humiliated. This is not fair. I deny all allegations and will take legal action against certain parties,” he stressed.

In the 8.45 pm incident, a total of 47 passengers were reported to be seriously injured while 166 escaped with minor injuries, when a train carrying passengers and an out-of-service train that was being test driven, collided.

Following the incident, the Ministry of Transport set up a special panel of investigators, to investigate the cause of the incident and two days after the incident, Tajuddin was terminated as chairman of Prasarana with immediate effect.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Thailand denied blocking export of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine amid claims that the kingdom is prioritizing the vaccine manufactured in the country for itself to combat the pandemic.

In a tweet, Deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Traisoranakul said Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnivirakul had explained that the matter was decided by the management of the company manufacturing the vaccine and not the government.

Yesterday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said the delay in deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Thailand is because the kingdom is prioritizing for itself the vaccine following of the severity of the pandemic.

Besides Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines among several countries to report delays in receiving vaccines manufactured in Thailand.

The delay raised questions about AstraZeneca’s distribution plan in Southeast Asia which depends on 200 million doses made by Siam Bioscience Co Ltd, the first and only biopharmaceuticals manufacturer in Thailand.

Siam Bioscience is the only manufacturing site of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in Southeast Asia and it will play a crucial role in the supply of the vaccine in the region.

Earlier, it said the vaccines would be ready for export to other Southeast Asian countries by July.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The decision of the Saudi Arabian government to only allow the residents and citizens from within the kingdom to perform the haj pilgrimage this year has proven its concern for the safety and health of Muslims worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tabung Haji (TH) group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin said although it had made the necessary preparation and planning for this year’s haj operations, TH accepted the decision made by the Saudi Arabian government and the Malaysian government.

“TH wishes to express our deepest gratitude to the Saudi Arabian government for always providing excellent cooperation to Malaysia and is very concerned in the affairs of haj pilgrims from this country since long ago,” he said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri said Malaysia will not be sending pilgrims for the 1442H haj season following the decision made by the Saudi Arabian government.

Amrin said pilgrims who were supposed to perform the haj pilgrimage in 2020 and had been given the priority in 2021 would be prioritised again to perform the pilgrimage next year.

For prospective pilgrims whose turn is this year (2021), they will also be given the opportunity to perform the haj pilgrimage in 2022 subject to the available quota, he added.

Meanwhile, TH will suspend all matters related to haj operations for the 1442H haj season and Malaysians residing in Saudi Arabia could apply to perform haj this year through the Saudi’s Haj and Umrah Ministry.

“The selection will subject to the standard operating procedures stipulated by the government,” said TH in the statement.

TH also advised all Muslims in Malaysia not to fall prey to any quarters offering haj packages and haj by proxy (badal haji) services for this year.

The public can visit TH official website at www.tabunghaji.gov.my or call TH Contact Centre at 03-62071919 for further information and enquiries.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency