Health Ads in Malaysia: MAB Approval, Influencer Rules & Weight-Loss Pens
Key Points
- Health ads in Malaysia, online posts included, need Medicine Advertisements Board approval before they run
- The MAB guideline in force since 5 June 2026 counts influencers as celebrities, who may promote a clinic but not its treatment results
- With weight-loss and aesthetic promotion under active enforcement, creator briefs need a local compliance check before posting
In Malaysia a health post by a creator is a regulated advertisement
The Health Ministry's pharmacy division says that any dissemination of information about health products or healthcare services meant to attract public attention, including on the internet, is an advertisement.
Under Section 4B of the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 it needs approval from the Medicine Advertisements Board (MAB) before it runs¹.
A sponsored TikTok video about a supplement or a clinic falls inside that definition.
So does a caption the creator wrote rather than the brand.
Live selling is already on the ministry's list.
In November 2025 Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni told Parliament that the ministry had issued RM120 million in compounds for offences involving unregistered medicines.
He also advised the public not to use TikTok Live to sell or promote medicines, particularly weight-loss and beauty products².
For brands, the approval step belongs in the production timeline from the start.
It has to be done before a creator is booked, not after a post goes up, because a script the board rejects usually means a reshoot.
The current MAB guideline counts influencers as celebrities and limits what they can endorse
The Medicine Advertisements Board revised its advertising guideline for private hospitals, clinics, radiology clinics and medical laboratories at a meeting on 2 March 2026, and the amended version took effect on 5 June 2026³.
Its definition of 'celebrity' covers six groups: local or international celebrities, athletes, patients who received treatment, models, professionals such as doctors and pharmacists, and influencers³.
The endorsement section dates from a 2023 amendment, so the restriction itself is not new.
The current text leaves no doubt that creators are inside it.
The rule splits content in two.
A celebrity, influencer included, may promote the premises: a clean clinic, friendly staff, a comfortable setting.
They may not endorse the treatment a patient received, or the skill and expertise of the practitioner who gave it³.
Patient testimonials follow the same split.
Publicity made for another country also has to meet the guideline if it reaches the Malaysian public, for example through the internet³.
Aesthetic services are a stated enforcement target.
In 2025 the ministry raided 30 premises nationwide over unlicensed aesthetic procedures and opened 18 investigation papers.
It works with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to remove illegal ads and shut down offending accounts, named TikTok as a channel where prohibited procedures are promoted, and warned of fines of up to RM500,000⁴.
Weight-loss products are where enforcement is most visible
On 28 August 2026 the Health Ministry said it had identified and screened 1,243 advertisements for weight-loss products across various media channels.
Separately, 209 weight-loss ads, including listings for products containing retatrutide, had been removed from e-commerce platforms⁵.
Between January and June the ministry carried out some 30 raids on the illegal advertising and sale of weight-loss products and seized goods worth RM477,142⁵. (Chart 1)
Retatrutide is an investigational drug still in Phase 3 trials, with no marketing approval from any regulator, and none had been registered with Malaysia's Drug Control Authority (DCA) as of 17 August 2026.
The Star reported that 'Reta Pens' were spreading on social media anyway, with influencers and sellers presenting them as a next-generation weight-loss jab priced online at RM250 to RM788⁵.
Selling an unregistered drug carries fines of up to RM50,000 for a first offence and RM100,000 for later ones under the Sale of Drugs Act 1952⁵.
Brands that never handle an unregistered product still have reason to look at these figures.
The removals took place on marketplaces, which is usually where creator affiliate links lead, so a post and the listing it points to are likely to be reviewed together.
The screening also counted advertisements across media channels, which means a creator's caption can end up in the record alongside the product.
Rebuild health creator briefs around MAB rules before the next campaign
Brands running health, wellness or aesthetics campaigns in Malaysia can make three changes before the next brief goes out.
First, secure MAB approval before the creator is booked.
Online promotion of health products and services is advertising that needs prior approval¹, so the application belongs at the start of the timeline.
Second, write scripts around what the guideline allows.
For clinics and hospitals, creators can talk about the premises, the staff and what a visit is like.
They cannot vouch for a treatment result or a doctor's skill³.
Before-after footage and 'it worked for me' lines are hard to read as anything but outcome claims, so they are the first things to cut.
For products, stay within the approved claim and confirm the product is registered before any creator receives a sample⁵.
Third, have a reviewer in Malaysia check each brief and caption against MAB rules before anything is posted.
That includes creators based abroad whose posts reach Malaysian audiences³.
Live sessions arguably need the same check on prepared talking points, given the ministry's warning about TikTok Live².
References
- Bahagian Farmasi, Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (FAQ), 2026 · https://pharmacy.moh.gov.my/en/faq/it-necessary-medical-advertisements-internet-get-approval-mab.html
- Kosmo, 2025 · https://www.kosmo.com.my/?p=859573
- Lembaga Iklan Ubat, Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, 2026 · https://pharmacy.moh.gov.my/sites/default/files/document-upload/garis-panduan-pengiklanan-kemudahan-perkhidmatan-penjagaan-kesihatan-mab-1.2026.pdf
- New Straits Times, 2026 · https://www.nst.com.my/amp/news/nation/2026/02/1375100/moh-raids-30-sites-over-illegal-aesthetic-services
- The Star, 2026 · https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2026/08/28/over-rm477000-worth-of-illegal-weight-loss-products-seized-says-health-ministry
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