Government should extend the ambulatory chemotherapy service, PN says

The Nationalist Party said Saturday the government should extend its ambulatory chemotherapy service fof the benefit of cancer patients.In a statement, the PN said the health of the Maltese people is not just a slogan. The patient always comes first,

By: independent.com.mt

Nov 16 2024
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Government should extend the a

The Nationalist Party said Saturday the government should extend its ambulatory chemotherapy service fof the benefit of cancer patients.

In a statement, the PN said the health of the Maltese people is not just a slogan. The patient always comes first, above everything else. That is why it continuously proposes important measures to improve patient care.

The PN called on the Government to extend the Ambulatory Chemotherapy service - which provides chemotherapy in the comfort of one's home - to all types of cancer, wherever possible. Expanding this service would mean that cancer patients would no longer need to go to hospital for treatment. For patients, this would result in less exposure to potential infections, less time wasted in traffic, reduces stress, and a lower burden on the oncology hospital.

If the Government wants to be credible when it says it is striving for a high-quality country, it must take more decisions to alleviate burdens on the most vulnerable and provide patients with the services they deserve without forcing them to beg for them.

The PN has long insisted that cancer medicines should be made available and provided by the government. In a press conference a year ago, the PN called for cancer patients to no longer be humiliated by having to request these medicines from the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF) but to receive them through the national health service. During his speech in Parliament on the 2025 Budget, PN Leader Bernard Grech also raised this topic.

Now, shortly after this speech, the Minister of Health has finally announced that discussions are underway for the Government to take responsibility for funding cancer medicines instead of the MCCF.

The PN has always emphasised that the patient must come first. It was therefore unacceptable to the PN that cancer patients had to beg for cancer medicines. When medicines are purchased by a single entity, the prices are more advantageous, and when the national health service itself provides these medicines, there should be less bureaucracy in the process.

While expressing satisfaction that the Government will finally adopt a proposal that the PN has been advocating for years, the Partit Nazzjonalista appeals to the Government not to take years, as it did in this case, to adopt measures proposed by the Opposition.

The statement was signed by Stephen Spiteri, Shadow Minister for Social Policy, and Adrian Delia, Shadow Minister for Health.