GEORGE TOWN, Sept 8 — The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Penang branch will conduct continuous monitoring and inspection on compliance with the ceiling price for the COVID-19 antigen rapid test (self-test) kit.
Its director, Mohd Ridzuan Ab Ghapar, said that the move was to ensure quality and ceiling price compliance for the test kits, in line with the government’s efforts which had previously set a retail ceiling price of RM19.90 and a wholesale ceiling price of RM16, which came into effect on Sept 5.
“Apart from that, the local manufacturer of antigen test kits has today assured KPDNHEP of an adequate supply (of COVID-19 antigen rapid test kits) for all Malaysians,” he told reporters after inspecting Medical Innovation Ventures Sdn Bhd (Mediven) in Bayan Lepas today.
He added that after 55 inspections and checks statewide, KPDNHEP found that on average wholesalers and retailers had complied with the maximum price that had been gazetted under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
He also warned that individuals found selling test kits above the ceiling price could be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed not more than three years, or both, or face compounds of up to RM50,000, while companies could be fined up to RM500,000 or compounded up to RM250,000.
On Sept 2, Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, announced that the Ministry of Health (MOH) was considering supplying a free COVID-19 self-test kit to the B40 group.
Following this, Mediven executive director, Ariff Ismail said that his company welcomes policies that provide benefits and facilities to the people, to ensure that test kits are easily available to all sections of society.
“At the same time, we hope that the government will consider buying locally produced products to help screening efforts (COVID-19), that are comparable and even better than test kits imported from abroad, as well as help the economy of local companies,” he said.
Recognising the importance of the screening and tracking process to break the COVID-19 infection chain, Mediven’s saliva self-test kit is now complete with a QR code to provide overall supply chain record information.
Apart from allowing customers to contact the manufacturer to ensure the authenticity of the product, this QR code is also able to prevent the reporting of multiple tests by the same patient.
He added that the kit is able to detect different variants of COVID-19 mutations such as Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma and so on.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency