KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — The recall of Accuhaler Ventolin and Seretide inhalers used in the treatment of asthmatic patients does not involve the Malaysian market, said Health

He said the withdrawal of the product involved only selected markets in the United Kingdom (UK).

"Checks have also revealed that only the Accuhaler Seritide is registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA), with the registration number MAL20001532ARZ, while the Accuhaler Ventolin is not registered with the DCA.

"In addition, the Accuhaler Seretide sold in Malaysia is manufactured in the United States, while the products recalled in the UK market were those that were manufactured in the UK itself,” he said in a statement today.

He said this in response to a publication of an article on a local news portal entitled "Asthma Patients, make sure you use the right inhaler!” on Feb 23.

In this regard, he stressed that Accuhaler Seretide sold in the Malaysian market was safe and effective, and patients need not worry about using the product.

"The Health Ministry always takes into consideration the quality, safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products before they are approved for registration. Quality control of pharmaceutical products registered in the market is also carried out to ensure that the products are completely safe,” he said.

Noor Hisham said the public can check the registration status of a product at the National Pharmacy Regulatory Division’s website at www.npra.moh.gov.my or contact NPRA at 03-78835538 ​​or the National Pharmacy Call Centre (NPCC) at 1800 88 6722.

He said all products registered in Malaysia were also labelled with registration numbers and had security hologram labels on them.

He added if users were doubtful of the authenticity of the hologram labels, they could confirm it via the ‘MediTag Checker’ app which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play. —Bernama