KUALA LUMPUR: There is a rise in the online sale of abortion pills, such as misoprostol, says Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In a statement, he said the unsupervised use of abortion pills could result in complications such as uterine rupture, abrnomal bleeding, and fatal infections if left untreated.
“Besides that, the consumption of this pill may also result in birth defects if the attempt to abort the baby was in vain.”
He said misoprostol was a registered medical product that was often used without the supervision of registered medical practitioners.
In November 2016, the product’s registration was cancelled. So, its sale is prohibited in the country.
Mifepristone is another unregistered product that is misused to carry out illegal abortions.
The sale of unregistered products are against Regulation 7 (1) (a) of the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984 and also an offence under Regulation 30 (1).
It is punishable under Section 12(1) of Sale of Drugs Act 1952.
Individuals found guilty could be fined not more than RM25,000 or jailed not more than three years, or both for the first offence, and fined not more than RM50,000 or jailed not more than five years or both for the second offence.
“The Health Ministry (KKM) has received 51 reports regarding the online selling of these pills for illegal abortions, which are against the law, throughout 2018 and 2019,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said 24 raids were carried out between 2016 and 2019 with the seizure of items worth up to RM95,233.
KKM also worked closely with enforcement agencies such as the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM), CyberSecurity and police to shut down the websites and social media platforms which were found to have flouted the law.
“Since 2016 until 2019, a total of 302 websites were screened by KKM, and out of that number, 98 websites were reported to SKMM, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for further action,” he said.
Besides that, he said, KKM through its pharmacy enforcement division had increase cooperation with the e-commerce platforms which were based in this country.
“Notifications were sent out to the e-commerce platform administrators to bring down the advertisements on abortion pills,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said it was believed that the supply of these pills were via illegal means from online platforms or smuggling from abroad.
“The pills were being shipped out via postal and courier services,” he said.
He said KKM would work with companies providing postal and courier services to thwart the sale of abortion pills from online sources or via smuggling into the country.
He advised the public to be vigilant when purchasing health products from online platforms so that they would not be duped by the advertisements and information on the websites.
“The public could check if the products sold are genuine by checking the product registration numbers or cosmetics notifications by visiting the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency website at www.npra.gov.my.”
Any reports on health products and dubious advertisement can be channeled to the //moh.spab.gov.my or any pharmacy enforcement branch offices or by contacting 03-78413200.