04
Industry
@Halal | July-august. 2020
THE PANEL DIALOGUE: (from left to right) Amrahi Buang, Chief Executive Officer of HDC Hairol Ariffein Sahari and Leonard Ariff
Embracing
a halal pharmaceutical
eco-system
WHC2020 webinar discusses need for better coordination and
innovative solutions for a sturdier halal pharmaceutical eco-system
BY CAMILIA REZALI
In conjunction with the 12th World
Halal Conference (WHC) 2020, a webinar
series titled ‘Embracing a Halal Pharmaceutical
Eco-System’ was held at Halal
Development Corporation’s premises in
Petaling Jaya recently.
The hybrid webinar was organised by
HDC in collaboration with Duopharma
Biotech Berhad (Duopharma Biotech) and
KPJ Healthcare Berhad (KPJ) and was hosted
by the Ministry of International Trade and
Industry (MITI).
Around 500 top industry players gathered
online to participate in the webinar.
Keynote speaker, the Chairman of Group
Medical Advisory Committee, KPJ Healthcare
Berhad, Dato' Dr. Zaki Morad Mohamad Zaher,
opened the webinar titled ‘Adapting the Halal
concept in the healthcare eco-system and its
impact on economy (trade and investment),
knowledge management and best practices’.
Proving their insights were three notable
panellists namely the President of the Malaysian
Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) Amrahi
Buang, Group Managing Director of Duo-
pharma Biotech, Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar
and the Senior Global Health Specialist of
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Dr Ammar
Abdo Ahmed who joined the discussions via
online from Ottawa, Canada.
The session was moderated by Tehmina
Kaoosji.
The webinar was timely as there was a
vital need to establish a stronger community
within the halal pharmaceutical ecosystem to
enhance the Malaysian healthcare industry.
Besides highlighting market trends and
public healthcare needs connected to the
halal concept, the webinar brought to light
the boundless potential of halal pharma for
the healthcare industry.
Dr Zaki noted: “Healthcare practices are
increasingly moving towards patient and
a community centric model especially in
chronic disease management.
“Healthcare workers including doctors,
nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare
workers serve to facilitate the change and
empower patients with the correct and
relevant information so that they can make
informed choices.”
Leonard Ariff said when Malaysia started
to steer the halal industry with the aid of the
MS2424:2012 standard, it gained universal
acceptance and that its evolution – the
MS2424:2019 - has significantly expanded
the scope of halal certification to address the
rising demand in biologics and the search for
halal vaccines.
Malaysia’s halal pharmaceutical ecosystem
is further boosted by the MS2424 Halal
Pharmaceutical - General Guidelines, which
address the entire supply chain from processing
to retail.
Hygiene, sanitation and safety are the key
pre-requisites in the halal pharmaceutical
manufacturing process where Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) is a compulsory
requirement in the preparation of halal
pharmaceutical products.