How to identify registered drugs or pharmaceutical products?

All pharmaceutical products including health supplements and traditional preparations must be registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA) of Malaysia before being marketed in Malaysia. Evaluation of the products' quality, safety and efficacy (except for traditional preparations and health supplements) are carried out to ensure safety to the public.

This to ensure that products registered with the DCA are safe to be taken by the public. Products registered with the DCA has two main features, the registration number and genuine hologram sticker. The registration number starts with 'MAL', followed by eight numbers, and ending with the letter T,A,X or N.

To check the list of products registered with the DCA, visit the official website of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, www.npra.gov.my. Click on the 'Registered Product Search' (Quest 3) and enter the details of the product to start the search.

To check the authenticity of the hologram sticker, use the Meditag hologram decoder available at the nearby pharmacy shop.