Medicine Advertising Rules in Malaysia for Suppliers: Act 290 and the Medicine Advertisements Board

In short: Act 290 prohibits advertising certain categories of medicinal claim, requires Medicine Advertisements Board (MAB) approval before other medicine advertisements are published, and defines an advertisement widely enough to include labels and documents. Reaching only healthcare professionals is a defence that a person charged must prove, not an exemption, and the Board will not approve an advertisement for an unregistered product. For a supplier, the working rule is to assume that any document, public or private, may be an advertisement, and to seek the Board's approval where the Act requires it.

This guide is for suppliers, importers, distributors and healthcare facilities in Malaysia that handle injectable or other medicinal products, and for manufacturers who sell to them. It summarises the main provisions of Act 290, the statute that governs medicine advertisements, and explains how they bear on the way a supplier communicates.

It is a summary of a public text, not legal advice. The copy of the Act we could read is the revised 1983 text incorporating amendments up to Act A778 of 1990, in an archived copy; we could not open the Ministry of Health's own page. The Minister may amend the Schedule by order, and we did not find a later order or amendment; check the current text and take legal advice before relying on any point below.

What counts as an advertisement

Section 2 defines an advertisement to include any notice, circular, report, commentary, pamphlet, label, wrapper or other document, and any announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light or sound. A label or a leaflet inside a pack can therefore be an advertisement, as can a slide deck or a catalogue. The Ministry of Health's public FAQ on internet advertising states that all dissemination of information about products and healthcare services meant to attract public attention, including on the internet, is classed as an advertisement, and that approval is required before it is published (section 4B). A supplier should therefore assume that a web page, a message or a document sent to a named recipient is covered.

The Act also defines a “substance recommended as a medicine”: one referred to on its label or container, on a placard where it is sold, or in an advertisement published by or for the manufacturer, seller or proprietor, in terms calculated to lead to its use in relation to an ailment, infirmity or injury of the human body. The test is how the material reads, not what the maker intends.

Section 3: claims that may not be advertised

Section 3(1) says that no person shall take any part in publishing an advertisement that refers to an article in terms calculated to lead to its use as a medicinal product for four purposes: claims about the diseases and conditions listed in the Schedule to the Act; contraception; certain physiological-function claims specified in the section; and the diagnosis of a scheduled disease. The Schedule is a list of specified diseases and conditions that the Minister may add to, delete from or amend by order (section 3(1A)). We do not reproduce it here: read the current Schedule rather than relying on any summary, and do not draw a boundary from memory.

The prohibition does not apply to advertisements published by the Federal or a State Government, a local or public authority, the governing body of a public hospital or a person the Minister authorises. Section 4 adds a separate prohibition for one further specified purpose. Because the verb is “take any part in the publication”, the reach is wider than the advertiser alone.

Section 4A: advertising a skill or service

Section 4A is aimed at advertisements that refer to a skill or service relating to an ailment, infirmity, injury or condition of the human body and that invite a person, expressly or by implication, to seek the advice of the advertiser. It does not apply to an advertisement published, with the Minister's approval, by a professional body established or registered under written law, or, with the approval of the Medicine Advertisements Board, by a private hospital or by a private clinic, radiological clinic or medical laboratory operated by a registered medical practitioner holding a valid annual practising certificate.

This matters to a supplier because its customers may advertise their own services. A facility needs MAB approval for such an advertisement, and a supplier that writes or supplies the copy may itself be taking part in the publication.

Section 4B: approval by the Board

Section 4B(1) provides that no person shall take part in publishing an advertisement that refers to an article in terms calculated to lead to its use as a medicinal product for conditions other than those in section 3(1), unless the Medicine Advertisements Board has approved the advertisement. Under section 7 the Minister makes regulations that establish the Board, set the manner and fees for submission and provide for appeal to the Minister. Registration of a product and approval of an advertisement are separate acts under separate law; the Ministry's FAQ states that approval is still required for a registered product because registration and advertisement are two distinct matters.

Offences, presumptions and enforcement

A person who contravenes sections 3, 4, 4A or 4B is liable on summary conviction, for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding RM3,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, and for a later offence to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both (section 5(1)). Two rules shape practice:

• Presumption of participation. If an advertisement also refers to the article in terms showing that it was manufactured, produced, imported, sold or offered for sale by the person charged, that person is presumed to have taken part in publishing it unless the contrary is proved (section 5(2)); section 5(2A) applies the same presumption to advertisements for a skill or service.
• Investigation. An authorised officer, a registered pharmacist in the public service, may investigate, require attendance, and enter and search premises, and may inspect, remove and detain any advertisement, book or article that could be evidence (sections 6A to 6D). A prosecution needs the written sanction of the Public Prosecutor (section 6F).

Enforcement in practice also runs through the online platforms. The New Straits Times reported on 10 August 2025 that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had removed 2,033 online advertisements for banned products and services by 1 August 2025, instructing social media platforms to take them down after verifying complaints with the Ministry of Health.

The defences: a burden, not an exemption

The Act contains no exemption for communications addressed to doctors or pharmacists. It contains defences, which a person charged has to prove at trial.

The Ministry of Health regards internet advertising as an advertisement that needs the Board's approval, and in our reading an open web page that search engines index is difficult to bring within “only so far as reasonably necessary” or a “publication of a technical character”. Whether a particular channel falls within a defence is a question for counsel.

Unregistered products and the Board

The Ministry of Health's public FAQ answers the question directly: medicines without a MAL registration number are considered unregistered products and are not allowed to be sold or advertised in Malaysia, and the Medicine Advertisements Board will not approve an application for an unregistered product's advertisement. There is therefore no route to approval for the advertisement of an unregistered product. How a product reaches registration is explained in our guide to the NPRA registration and import pathway.

Section 6 adds a labelling duty for retail: no article containing a substance recommended as a medicine may be sold by retail, or supplied to induce retail purchase, unless its label shows the designation and quantities of the active constituents in English or the national language. It does not govern business-to-business supply directly, but a label is itself an advertisement under section 2.

A working checklist for suppliers

• Assume that labels, leaflets, catalogues, slide decks, web pages, e-mails and messages may be advertisements.
• Remember that private distribution is covered too: section 2 reaches any document or announcement, so a deck sent to a named recipient can still be an advertisement. Where section 4B requires the Board's approval, apply to the Board before publication.
• Do not supply claims or copy to customers for their own advertising. A facility that advertises its services needs approval under section 4A.
• Keep every prohibited category in section 3 out of all material, including background text about a product.
• Record who received which document and when.
• Do not advertise a product before it is registered, and once it is registered keep claims within the registration and obtain approval where the Act requires it.
• Take legal advice before publishing, and recheck the current text of the Act, its Schedule and the Board's rules.