He said he was made aware of the sale of the device, known as “energy stick”, by concerned citizens through his X (formerly Twitter) account.

“I received public complaints about it (the energy sticks).

“I then informed my director-general and deputy director-general on that matter. We will take action soon,” he told reporters after officiating the Liver Cancer Awareness Day ceremony in Komune Living & Wellness here today.

However, he did not elaborate on what action would be taken by the ministry.

Yesterday, the New Straits Times reported that a health group had urged the government and the relevant authorities to carry out tests on the “energy sticks”, to determine if it was safe and to consider imposing a ban on it, if it was found to pose a health risk.

Sold with the tagline “snort first, then go to school”, Public Health Malaysia claimed that the promotion of the device showed that it was aimed at minors.

The device, available for as cheap as RM2.50, was said to contain chemicals that could seriously affect the user’s health, including causing infections and damaging the respiratory system.

On a separate matter, Dzulkefly said the review of on-call allowance for doctors has been concluded and will be announced soon by health director-general Dr Radzi Abu Hassan.

“I have seen the outcome of the review. The health director-general will issue a statement soon on the final decision,” he added, without elaborating further.

On Dec 13, 2023, it was reported that deputy health minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said the ministry is committed to reviewing the on-call allowances for doctors, which currently stood at RM9 per hour.

Lukanisman said the ministry has resubmitted the proposal to the public services department (JPA).

The application to increase the on-call rate, which was last reviewed in 2012, has been raised to JPA in 2022 and 2023.