KUCHING: Whitening products presently hitting the market are seen as one of the easiest ways to get brighter skin for the younger generation nowadays, said state Health Department director, Dr Jamilah Hashim.
“There is a reason why the products that you see in the online market are much cheaper than those being sold in the market place,” Dr Jamilah said to reporters after officiating at a pharmacist conference here today.
She said that products sold online such as whitening creams, slimming pills and other products did not get approval from the Health Ministry.
“People should trust products that have been certified by Health Ministry and not to easily believe products offered online such as social media.
“There are side effects when you consume a certain product such as steroid. Of course, those who took the product for only a certain period will not get the side effects but if they took it for a longer period then there will be side effects when they get older,” she said.
Sarawak Head of Pharmacy Enforcement Department, Benedict Talin said a total of RM7million of cosmetic products which were not approved by the Health Ministry were confiscated at Senari Port, Kuching, recently.
“We were able to confiscate the items which a company tried to smuggle into Kuching from Penang. It was the second seizure involving the company. The operation was a success because we have support from the Customs Department,” Benedict said.
Director of pharmaceutical enforcement division, Health Ministry of Malaysia, Tan Ann Ling said the works ethics among pharmacists are very much of concern nowadays.
“We are now also concerned about our health officers as they can easily smuggle out any medicine from their workplace and sell them outside.
“In view of this we are starting to monitor the movements of our medicines which are brought out or supplied to out-patients to prevent such a case from happening. If a serious offence has been committed, we will not hesitate to take stern action against the perpetrators,” he said.
