Prohibit dubious health practices and pseudoscience
TO protect the rakyat’s health, the Malaysian Health Coalition stands firmly against unlicensed health practices and pseudoscience.
Unlicensed aesthetic procedures and unlicensed doula-assisted births are two examples of dangerous practices in Malaysia. Other examples include illegal dentistry (such as services to put on fake teeth braces in hotel rooms) and substandard or falsified products with baseless marketing claims (such as energy supplements).
Along with anti-vaccination, these can be considered pseudoscience as they rely on misleading or wrong scientific claims as their marketing tool, mostly on social media.
We urge the following:
1. The enforcement arms of the Health Ministry, such as the Medical Practices Division, National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and Pharmacy Enforcement Division, should be given more resources, including human capital.
2. The Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission and the Royal Malaysian Police should actively support the actions of the Health Ministry’s enforcement arms.
3. The Attorney General and public prosecutors should continue being vigilant about existing illegal health practices.
4. Parliament and the legal and health services should draft appropriate new laws to prohibit new dubious health practices and pseudoscience, which are evolving in type, quantity and sophistication.
5. The public should educate themselves and their families to avoid illegal or dubious medical practices and scammers.
6. The Health Ministry should provide appropriate institutional, legal and/or financial support for health staff who provide health education and raise awareness against dubious medical practices or pseudoscience. Our colleagues deserve protection from unwarranted threats and malicious lawsuits.
The coalition stands strongly against illegal or dubious health practices and pseudoscience. They are dangerous to the rakyat’s health. We must trust in rigorous science, strong evidence and appropriate government regulations to protect our health. MALAYSIAN HEALTH COALITION
Note: This letter was signed by 49 medical and health-related organisations and 19 medical and non-medical individuals. The full signature list can be viewed at myhealthcoalition.org.