In efforts to combat the growing concerns regarding the authenticity of pharmaceutical products, the Ministry of Health unveiled the fourth version of Meditag, a security hologram with enhanced security features.
Initially launched in 2005, the initiative requires all pharmaceutical products to be registered with the Ministry of Health’s Drug Control Authority (DCA) and to display the holographic security label.
Being the first of its kind in the world, Meditag is tailored according to the Ministry of Health’s specifications. It aims to protect the public from counterfeit and unregistered pharmaceutical products, coupled with consumer awareness programmes and stringent enforcement.
“We have a social and moral imperative to impede the expanding availability of counterfeit pharmaceutical products in the marketplace and ensure that pharmaceutical products sold in Malaysia are of high quality, effective, and safe for consumption,” said Mazlan Ismail, Deputy Director, Forensic Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Enforcement Division), Ministry of Health. “The Meditag holographic security label effectively assists consumers, distributors and pharmacies identify unregistered and counterfeit products.”
The version 4 of Meditag incorporates cutting-edge technology including the latest development in Diffractive Optically Variable Image Devices (DOVID) with a data matrix for easy verification.
The enhanced security features allows for faster authentication of all registered pharmaceutical products and swift enforcement in handling cases of counterfeit products. With Meditag 4, the industry can also explore the track-and-trace technology which is built into the device.
Currently, a number of pharmaceutical companies are already and will soon incorporate the hologram on to the respective packaging of their products.
