Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has stated the enforcement of a markup limit of 100% on medicine will not affect the quality of medicine dispensed by pharmacies.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health announced the decision to limit the markup on medicine was made in accordance with the Health Services Act, which dictates the establishment of a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on essential medicine. Following concerns on a possible reduction of quality due to the markup limit, MFDA said it will continue to test all medicines available in the market, to ensure the medicine is up to the health and safety standards. Therefore, MFDA said the markup limit is not expected to have an effect on the quality of medicine.
The health ministry had earlier stated the work to enforce the new regulation will be conducted in two phases. The first phase involves enforcing the MRP on essential medicine imported and sold in the Maldives starting next year. As such, pharmacies will not be able to sell essential medicine above the 100% markup limit starting from January. The second phase involves enforcing the MRP on all medicine imported and sold in the Maldives in mid-2022.
The ministry stated it will publish the list of essential medicine and their MRPs this year for importers and pharmacies to prepare for the changes.