
Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed has assured the public that medicine prices will not go up after signing the Pacific trade pact. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, November 13, 2015.
Medicine prices should not go up once the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) comes into effect, said Putrajaya, in response to the public’s biggest worry about the trade pact.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said two major elements in TPPA – the length of patents and data exclusivity for biologics – would not lead to higher medicine prices.
Mustapa said these two elements were already present in laws and standards in the Malaysian healthcare industry and so far, they have not led to extraordinary hikes in medicine prices.
“But we know it is a big worry for the public and it is a worry that we need to deal with. Read more