Regulation of traditional and complementary medicinal products in Malaysia

In Malaysia, mainly there are three complimentary systems of medicine practiced they are the traditional Malay, Chinese and Indian systems. The traditional herbal medicines and their preparations have been widely used in Malaysia for thousands of years. The pervasive use of complementary medicines raises several concerns. Many of these arise because most complementary medicines are not licensed as medicines, and therefore evidence of quality, efficacy and safety is not required before marketing. In this paper, I would like to present an overview of the characteristics of regulation, quality and registration of traditional and complementary medicinal (TCM) products in Malaysia.