The sight of his father, Alfred, waving from his veranda on Sunday will remain ingrained in Kenneth Grech's mind.

"I was leaving their house after lunch and he and my mother came out in the veranda to wave," Dr Grech, permanent secretary res-ponsible for health, the elderly and community care, said, adding this was the last time he saw him.

Alfred Grech, also a doctor who occupied high positions both in Malta and abroad, died suddenly the following day, aged 82.

Lauded for his contribution to the health service over a career spanning many decades, Dr Grech was the chief government medical officer during the turbulent years of the doctors' strike, which saw an exodus of doctors from Malta.

"He used to describe this period as an unfortunate situation. He dedicated the first few years after the strike striving to get the political parties to agree. He put all his energy in it," his son recalled yesterday.

The 10-year strike kicked off in 1977 after the government amended legislation regarding the licensing of doctors, requiring newly-qualified doctors to serve in hospital for two years immediately after graduation with the aim of stopping junior doctors leaving the island. Afterwards, the health service was mostly run by foreign doctors, recruited from Europe, North Africa and Asia.

"He had to rebuild the health service from scratch following the strike's aftermath," Dr Grech said of his father.

It had been a very difficult time for his father, fraught by an internal conflict between his loyalty to the profession and the responsibility to ensure the health service kept going.

"The medical profession was his life," he said.

Apart from holding high positions in Malta, including that of director of the UN's International Institute on Ageing, surgeon captain, principal medical officer and special advisor to the ministry, Dr Grech also occupied prestigious positions within the World Health Organisation. He was the chairman of the Geneva-based executive board between 1987 and 1988, apart from other posts.

An avid reader and an England football supporter, Dr Grech was born in Ħamrun in December 1926. He married Patricia Ann and they had four children. Two of his sons - Kenneth and Mark - are also doctors.

"He never pushed us to take up medicine, although he supported us throughout," Dr Grech said.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar has known Dr Grech since he was a teenager because he had struck a friendship with one of his sons.

"He was an exemplary person who was respected locally and internationally and worked very hard," Dr Cassar said.

Dr Grech was described by the president of the Medical Association of Malta, Martin Balzan as an efficient and dedicated person who gave an important contribution to the health sector.

Geriatrics specialist Frederick Fenech has known Dr Grech for years as they were at the University together. They also sat on a number of medical boards together.

"He was a very effective chief government medical officer and many reforms were introduced during his time," Prof. Fenech said.

In fact, during Dr Grech's tenure, he had set up a number of intensive care facilities within St Luke's Hospital, specialised diagnostic facilities and oversaw the introduction of open-heart surgery, neurosurgery, renal dialysis and transplantation. He also commissioned Karin Grech Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital and was responsible for upgrading both St Vincent de Paul and Rużar Briffa hospitals.

"He was energetic as a doctor and he gave a big contribution to public health," Prof. Fenech said.