There is an urgent need for the government to implement price control on medicine, said Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC).

Its commissioner, Professor Datuk Dr Sothi Rachagan said currently the price gap between the government and private sectors was huge and the prices were higher than the International Reference Price (IRP).

"The medicine prices purchased by the government is 1.3 times higher than the IRP while for the private sector, it is 2.9 times higher," he told Bernama during the Malaysian Competition Conference here today.

The Nilai University Vice Chancellor said that with price control on medicine, the Health Ministry expenditure could be reduced as purchasing medicine takes a huge proportion of the total healthcare expenditure.

"In 2010, the expenditure comes to a total of RM1.61 billion and by 2013, it is recorded at RM2.2 billion. It goes up every year," he said quoting the Director-General of Health report.

On Feb 18, 2015, MyCC has issued a guideline for Good Pharmaceutical Trade Practice specifying five things including a standard price and bonus scheme apply to all channels and healthcare providers.

However, the guideline has no mandatory effect on price control for medicine.

Sothi Rachagan said that if the government adhered to the IRP, and put in place the Pharmacy Act which was currently on the final stages, it would bring down the prices of medicine.

"Most developing nations have some sort of price control on medications, but Malaysia does not have one. This is important as this will allow people to get access to cheaper and quality medicines," he said.

The two-day conference that started yesterday featured speakers from around the world on importance of competition in business and was officiated by Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah. -- Bernama