Last December, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela launched the two-month consultation for the National Sexual Health Strategy 2025-2030.

During the launch of the long-awaited sexual health policy, journalists who were tasked with reporting on it struggled to put a concrete story together.

Why? Because the strategy document contained a lot of research-based information about the existing statistics and demographics that were informing its proposals.

But many proposals listed were then left somewhat vague, with little information about concrete action to be taken to implement them, or of implementation timelines.

Proposals, for example, included providing sexual health education for children, youth, adolescents and parents or guardians. They also suggested giving free barrier contraceptives to those aged 16 years and over and adding the emergency contraception pill to the national formulary and free preventive treatment against HIV for those who are at risk of contracting the virus.

While all are positive measures, the questions remained: How will this be achieved? Who will oversee the implementation? By when would this happen?

Over the past weeks, this was one of the criticisms thrown at the consultation document. Both the Nationalist Party as well as NGOs representing the LGBTIQ community said the document was not detailed enough.

The NGOs said that, while the consultation document was a marked improvement over the current outdated policy, they wanted to see more clarity on how the strategy will be implemented with the aim of fostering a clear direction forward to ensure goals are translated into actionable policy. They asked for budgets and timelines.

Of course, they also made their policy recommendations on how to improve the proposed strategy, which, at the end of the day, was the reason why it was launched for consultation: to gather perspectives and feedback to improve it.

They also stressed on the importance of including accountability. And they are right. Mapping out a clear road map of who is responsible for what, and by when, must be part of the strategy.

Let’s not forget the history of the strategy: the consultation document marked the first time that Malta’s sexual health strategy has been updated in 14 years.

To this day, Malta’s sexual health public policies are based on a strategy published in 2010 and was already considered outdated by GU Clinic doctors at the time of publication.

An updated policy was originally meant to be released in 2021 but was sent back to the drawing board because the research it was based on was found to be years out of date. Its revision was further delayed by the COVID pandemic. 

Who was accountable for this?

In the past, we let time get out of hand – to the detriment of the sexual health of the people living in Malta. This cannot happen again.

This must be a strategy that takes into account the rapidly changing world, the impact of social media and the needs of different cultures and groups within the community.

With the right collaborative attitude, all parties can put their minds together to come up with the right formula.

But, once again, there must be accountability. No grey areas. Responsibilities must be clear to avoid finger-pointing.

Timelines must be set to avoid unnecessary delays. The strategy must be measured to ensure effectiveness.

So far, the consultation document gave us the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ but fell short on providing a ‘how’ and ‘when’.

Let’s hope the final document answers all.