Mental health professionals and parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are urging the authorities to provide a variety of treatment options, and reverse a decision to swap a particular medicine with a generic one.

Playing around with medication is not an option for us, and lack of medication can have serious repercussions, ADHD Malta is calling on the government. 

Nearly 900 people have signed an online petition by the support group calling for effective medication through the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme.

Medication available worldwide allows 95% of children to be treated with one form of medicine or another, however, patients in Malta are struggling.

While the variety available abroad was not provided here, a recent swapping of a medicine with a cheaper one resulted in regress among some sufferers, ADHD Malta said.

According to the petition, it was most concerning that “due to changes imposed on the ADHD community” some have had to purchase medication to ensure that their loved ones did as well as they possibly could. 

This was not only resulting in an extra expense but even creating an out-of-stock situation where people were being left without medication for weeks on end.

ADHD Malta president Pamela Muscat noted that while it was already difficult to give medicine to children because of stigma and swallowing difficulties among others, the emergence of fresh symptoms from the new medicine made the situation even worse. 

Nearly 900 people have signed an online petition by the support group

When Times of Malta reported last month that changes in medication were having a detrimental effect on children and adults, the government said it had commissioned a study to look into a number of cases.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said the study has been concluded and the Chief Medical Officer was now waiting for the expert report and its recommendations.

The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health has meanwhile added its voice to the call for more flexible treatment to be made available locally.

In comparison with other developed countries, Malta lacks some important pharmaceutical treatments.

Maltese patients also lacked access to a medium-acting medicine that had a better side-effect profile, with less sleep disturbances and a less durable effect on appetite suppression, when compared to what was available locally, it said.

ACAMH-Malta also flagged “adverse effects” as a result of the recent switching of medicines, which included total absence of response. 

It appealed for “caution when adopting new drugs as part of the repertoire offered by the national formulary, considering that more studies were needed to ascertain a concrete evidence-base for the use of” the one currently being provided.

Meanwhile, ACAMH-Malta also called for better access for ADHD diagnosis because at times, patients had to wait up to four years for formal assessment and diagnosis.

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