The Nationalist Party has pledged to offer more cancer medicines to patients as well as set up a special drug fund that would finance pharmaceutical products that are not yet on the government formulary list.

Announcing a set of 13 proposals targeting cancer treatment, PN health spokesman Stephen Spiteri said that cancer patients and their families deserve a better quality of life.

“Charity is a noble and invaluable gesture but unfortunately cancer treatment has become disproportionately dependent on the goodwill of non-governmental organisations and initiatives and often leads to unnecessary discouragement and inefficiencies in the care system,” he said.

He said that while the Malta Community Chest Fund was carrying out sterling work, cancer patients and their families did not need to go from one entity to another almost begging for treatment that should be given to them by right.

He said the PN was putting forward a number of measures in four strategic areas in the field of oncology: biological care, research and innovation through collaborations with foreign universities and research centres, prevention through early detection, and holistic support for cancer patients and their relatives, including through the provision of 24 hours care in the comfort of their own home.

The party proposed allocating the necessary funding to offer free treatment through medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency.

It also proposed updating the government formulary to offer the newest medicines and expand access to supportive medicines to mitigate the side effects of medication.

PN spokeswoman on social care, Claudette Buttigieg, said a PN government would also widen the ages of cancer screening programmes to gradually reach the entire population at different stages of life.

She said the party was also proposing a strategic investment in genetic testing to tackle cancer as early as possible as well as invest in state-of-the-art equipment by switching from Linear Accelerator (LINAC) technology to MR Linear Accelerator.

She referred to a Times of Malta story which had revealed that hundreds of cancer patients’ procedures had been postponed over recent years due to delays in the supply of a radioactive substance from Italy.

The €4-million machine that requires this substance was still packed away in boxes at the Life Sciences Park, just across the road from the hospital, Buttigieg said on Monday.

She said the PN would also create a walk-in clinic that operates 24 hours a day to provide immediate assistance to patients and their families. In addition, it will set up a digital electronic health system for oncology patients being treated at home so that they can be followed by professionals remotely and more effectively.

The party also plans to introduce a modern ambulatory chemotherapy system to enable patients to be assisted from their own homes.

This helps reduce the risk of further infections while better managing hospital fixed resources.