Malta is an island of extremes when it comes to comparative analysis with other EU member states. The latest European Commission report, which ranks Malta and Romania as the worst performers in cancer prevention in the EU, is not a trophy we can proudly showcase.

To date, Malta has no national cancer screening programme in place, despite a commitment back in 2003, during an EU health ministers' meeting, to put these programmes in place.

Let's start with breast screening. Critics and some studies have found that screening can lead to the possibility of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. However, the EU believes that screening saves lives, and so do women who had a malignant tumour removed thanks to regular screening.

Mammography screening can detect breast cancer three to four years before symptoms would be noticed, dramatically improving chances of effective treatment.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Maltese women - over 32 per cent of all cancers - and a statistically significant increase in the local incidence of breast cancer is being observed. Five-year survival rates for Malta remain below the European average.

In countries where an organised breast screening programme exists, the cancer is detected at an earlier stage. This means fewer women have to endure the highly unpleasant and poorly-tolerated treatments, which cost significantly more, placing a burden on the already strained health resources.

The debate on whether to introduce national breast screening has been raging for a decade, with women standing in the middle wondering if it will ever materialise. In December 2007, then Health Minister Louis Deguara had said breast screening would be up and running in "a short time".

But it took another year before the government finally allocated €700,000 to this programme in the last Budget, and news has now emerged that the first screening clinic could open in Valletta in September. About 30,000 women, aged between 50 and 59, will be called for screening over three years.

So with all this data in hand, pointing towards the benefits and advantages of screening, why has it taken us so long? Why do we need Brussels to chase us to implement timeframes and programmes?

Screening will inevitably pick out cancer cases earlier, which is good news for the patient, but do we have the necessary human resources in place? The government needs to seriously start addressing these questions, and not come up with a patchy solution when the crisis hits. Society needs to believe in its healthcare system.

The lack of human resources was, and remains, a stumbling block. To start off with, the country needs more radiologists. According to the Maltese Association of Radiologists, there are just four consultant radiologists at Mater Dei Hospital. At least two more are needed to cope with the demand and to ensure the success of the screening programme.

This is not all. The bad news is for cervical and colorectal cancer - the Health Ministry has come out saying the government has not yet decided whether to launch screening programmes for these cancers.

Comparatively, the incidence of these two cancers is not as high as breast cancer - the Malta National Cancer Registry shows there were 2,379 new cases of breast cancer between 1996 and 2000, compared to 919 new cases of colorectal and 101 new cases of cervical cancer.

But these numbers are not mere statistics - we're talking about human lives. The Times reported that heat is on from Brussels for Malta to bite the bullet and act. A Commission official said: "Unfortunately, it seems Malta has to pull up its socks and start delivering in this sector."

We have heard these comments all too often.