A 14-year-old cancer patient has issued a passionate appeal for people to stop stealing hand sanitisers from hospital.

The bottles have been removed from Mater Dei, despite them being securely attached by cables, an official confirmed.

Rebecca Zammit Lupi reminded the “selfish” thieves that the dispensers were needed in wards where medical staff examine vulnerable patients.

The teenager is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the oncology centre at Mater Dei.

Demand for hand sanitising gel has surged amid fears over coronavirus and earlier this week, Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed that the hospital has had to replace stolen sanitisers. The demand has prompted some suppliers to drastically hike up their prices. 

In a post on Facebook, Rebecca wrote: “To those who are stealing hand sanitisers from both Mater Dei and Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre, please stop being selfish!

“Those sanitisers are very much needed in hospital when examining patients, handling different medicines and using hickman lines.”

Rebecca's post. Photo: Facebook

She said that staff were now removing the sanitisers that are placed outside rooms at the oncology centre to avoid theft.

Her father, Darrin, described the behaviour of the thieves as “incredible and disgusting”.

“Some people are jeopardising the safety and lives of cancer patients by stealing hand sanitizers in hospital, so staff are having to remove them before stocks run out, making it a lot more difficult for any genuine visitor or young patients’ parents to sanitize their hands.”

He said anyone caught doing so should be jailed.

It is crucial for cancer patients to be protected from infection because cancer and certain types of cancer treatment depletes the immune system. 

The health minister in a news conference on Wednesday urged people to be considerate of others and to refrain from taking hand sanitisers, saying everyone had a right to feel safe.

A Mater Dei official also appealed for people to be responsible and said the sanitisers were being stolen even though they are secured by cables.

"We need the stock to protect the vulnerable," she said. "Those are the patients. If health workers get infected, who is going to protect the patients?"

The official advice on keeping coronavirus at bay is to wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and if not available, to use alcohol-based hand disinfectant.

However the Mater Dei official explained that the hand disinfectant was particularly crucial for hospital workers.

"Health workers are often running against time: they cannot constantly wash their hands so hand sanitisers are necessary."

Of the current reaction to coronavirus, she added: "people have gone into survival mode."