Any proposal for patients to pay for medicine they were entitled to, only to be refunded later, went against the principle of social justice, the GWU said today.

The proposal was made by the Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

The union said people with a low income such as pensioners did not have the means to buy the medicines they needed.

Such a proposal would add to their hardship since medicines were expensive and refunds took months to be issued.

The GWU said it agreed with a proposal for those who were entitled to medicine to get vouchers with which to “pay” for what they received.

The union also encouraged the government to take measures which would stop abuse and wastage.

In another statement, Labour Party spokesmen Michael Farrugia and Anthony Zammit said patients were not being given all the medicines they were entitled to.

Some of these medicines had been missing for several months and patients were having to buy them. These included some very expensive ones.

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