There is an apparent tug of war between the government and industry players on whether the price of medicines will increase significantly after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes into force in April.

On one end, the Royal Customs Department insists that there will be no drastic increase in the price of medicines when the tax is rolled out as several medications are zero-rated.

"Actually the increase is very marginal but certain quarters are making a fuss as if the cost of medicines in Malaysia will increase drastically with GST," the department's director of internal tax Subromaniam Tholasy was quoted as saying by Bernama .

He said healthcare access will also improve as there will no longer be service tax for food and room at hospitals, as well as the use of machines such as X-ray or Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

However, the Malaysian Community Pharmacy Guild said the price of some drugs have already spiked 20 to 50 percent ahead of the GST over the last 12 months, The Star reported.

Price controls, please

Its president Wong Sie Sing said the normal annual increment should only be between five to 10 percent, but consumers have to expect between 10 percent to 40 percent hike when GST comes into force.

Wong, whose organisation represents some 2,500 pharmacists, urged the government to implement price controls for medicines.

"Otherwise drug prices could rise very rapidly," he was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society president Nancy Ho said the zero-rate list does not include most medication.

"GST will worsen the situation further as almost all newer medicines with better results and less side effects will be taxed six per cent." she was quoted as saying in the same report.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr H Krishna Kumar added that even items on the zero-rated list are expected to be pricier as GST will increase cost of transportation and storage.