Cancer patients should be given the medicines they need with dignity, not be left dependent on charity

The Government continues to drag its feet; the Partit Nazzjonalista has been calling for years for all cancer medicines to be included on the Government formulary

Cancer patients are still being left dependent on charity because the Labour Government has been dragging its feet for years and continues to fail to provide these patients with the treatment they need.

The Partit Nazzjonalista expresses full solidarity with cancer patients and their families who, at a time of fear, pain and uncertainty, are being forced to go through bureaucratic processes and wait for charitable assistance in order to access essential treatment.

For many years, the Partit Nazzjonalista has insisted that all approved cancer medicines which are needed by patients should be included on the Government formulary, without anyone having to go from one place to another pleading for them. What has been revealed today about patients with Multiple Myeloma confirms what the PN has long been insisting on. In a European country, with a public health system that is meant to safeguard human dignity, cancer medicine should not depend on whether a patient passes a means test or receives charitable assistance.

The Malta Community Chest Fund carries out invaluable work and should continue to be supported and strengthened. However, charity should be an additional form of support, not a substitute for the responsibility of the State. The Government cannot continue using the generosity of the Maltese and Gozitan people as a cover for its own failures.

This is not a matter of political convenience, but one of justice, equality and dignity.

It is unacceptable that one patient has access to treatment while another patient, with a serious condition and an urgent need, is asked to seek help from outside the public health service. This creates injustice in such a delicate area as cancer treatment, where those with sufficient means can receive treatment, while others are forced to wait, apply and plead.

This is an injustice and a cruelty that must stop.

Robert Abela promised that all cancer treatments would be provided free of charge and on time through the national health service. Yet to this day, patients and their families are still waiting. In an illness such as cancer, every day without treatment can make a difference.

The Partit Nazzjonalista calls on the Government to immediately:

1. establish a fast-track process for cancer medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency to be included on the national formulary;
2. ensure that cancer patients are no longer subjected to means-testing processes in order to receive essential treatment;
3. make the financing of cancer medicines a national priority in the health budget.

Cancer is already cruel enough, and no one going through it should have to face further fear and uncertainty because of a system that is taking too long to provide them with a solution.

Cancer patients need peace of mind, timely treatment and a system that works for them, not a system that sends them knocking on another door.

The Partit Nazzjonalista continues to insist that cancer treatment should be accessible to everyone, on time and with dignity.

The time for promises is over. The Government must start delivering today, not tomorrow. Cancer does not wait.

Stephen Spiteri
Shadow Minister for Health

02.07.2026