The Ministry of Health is in “advanced talks ” with the President to take over responsibility for the funding of medicines for cancer patients from the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF), Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said on Monday.

The government has been criticised over the years for the situation which sees cancer patients having to apply to the MCCF for expensive medicines.  

The MCCF, which is headed by the President, has said that the funding of cancer medicines takes up the lion's share of its budget and fund-raising activities.

Abela made the announcement during the Budget debate in parliament, saying the ministry expects to take over the funding of cancer medicines next year. 

He thanked the presidency for its work and also pointed out that the ministry itself hands millions of euro to the MCCF for cancer medicines that are not on the government’s formulary. €22 million were handed over so far this year,  with an additional €5 million possible by year's end.

Last year, the Nationalist Party insisted that patients should not be made to beg for medicines and they should be funded directly by the government, not the Community Chest Fund.   

Paola Health Hub to get its first patients this week

Abela also announced that an MRI scanner at the Censu Moran Paola Health Hub will be commissioned this week. It will be the first service provided at the new facility, which has been plagued by compliance and commissioning delays.  It was originally scheduled to open in 2021. In September Times of Malta reported that the government had terminated the contract with the contractors because of the missed deadlines.

The Ċensu Moran health hub is Paola is practically ready, but its compliance and commissioning process has been delayed.

The minister said he was personally disappointed by the delays, and his ministry was contracting various firms to help expedite the commissioning process.

During the same parliamentary sitting, Abela reported that the success rate of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) had reached a record 66.7 per cent in Malta.

The minister said that 600 couples received uninterrupted IVF services after a €6 million investment in outsourcing while the IVF centre at Mater Dei Hospital was renovated.