The Second Edition of the Pharmacoeconomic Guidelines for Malaysia has been published in January 2020 with the aim to encourage timely, reliable, consistent and relevant economic evaluation of pharmaceutical interventions in the Malaysian healthcare system. Among its important objectives is to set a standard for quality, transparent and uniform economic evaluations and budget impact analyses (BIAs) of pharmaceutical interventions in Malaysia. This second edition was produced to update the methodological guidance based on the latest developments in the field of health economics to be adopted for the Malaysian setting. It is intended for use by researchers, pharmaceutical companies, health economists, health professionals and all those who are involved in the conduct or use of pharmacoeconomic evaluations and BIAs in Malaysia.

This guideline comprises of two main sections: economic evaluation and BIA. For the first section on economic evaluation, this guideline differs from the previous edition as it combines both the conceptual definitions and methodologies in one section with additional focus is given on the methodologies. BIA is presented separately in the second section to differentiate it from economic evaluations and to provide clearer overview of its relevance and importance for policy decisions. Explanations and recommendations are provided in each section of this updated guideline. The recommendations for an ideal method to be used in both economic evaluation and BIA are summarised.

The development of the guideline began with a workshop held to establish the development group which consist of representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education (MoE) and private sector including a representative from the Pharmaceutical Association of MaIaysia (PhAMA). During the workshop, discussions were focused on setting up the outline and concept of the updated guideline. Brainstorming sessions were carried out to determine the contents followed by the drafting of the contents. The development group was divided into three separate groups, each group was given separate titles and led by an expert who is also an academician in the field.  The section on economic evaluation was drafted based on the review of pharmacoeconomic guidelines from other countries. Modifications were made where applicable to suit the local settings. Literature searches were also performed to fill in information gaps. The section on BIA was prepared largely based on the report by ISPOR 2012 BIA Good Practice II Task Force (Sullivan et al., 2014), an updated publication by Mauskopf et al., 2016 as well as the practical experiences in the local setting. Each group presented its first drafts for deliberations by other workshop participants. Revisions were made based on subsequent feedbacks and discussions.  Efforts were made to achieve consensus. Compiled draft was then reviewed by the appointed internal and external reviewers who are not in the development group. All comments and feedbacks were collected and amendments were done appropriately before the final draft of this guideline was published.

The guideline is available at the official website of the Pharmaceutical Services Programme, Ministry of Health Malaysia (https://www.pharmacy.gov.my/v2/ms)

Information provided by:

1. Nazatul Syima Idrus, MSc, Senior Principal Assistant Director, Pharmaceutical Services Programme, Ministry of Health Malaysia
2. Faridah Aryani Md Yusof, PhD, Academic Fellow, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Former Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health Malaysia