Health Minister Joe Cassar and his Italian counterpart Renato Balduzzi signed three historic agreements through which Maltese patients will benefit from specialised health care procedures at Italian hospitals.

Maltese patients suffering from certain complex diseases and in need of specialised care will be referred to highly specialised regional centres and hospitals in Italy to receive the best treatment and management for their condition.

The agreements were signed with the Lombardy, Sicilian and Tuscany regions.

They built upon a previous memorandum of understanding signed between the two ministries in December 2009 and cover the diagnosis and specialised treatment of Maltese patients in Italy, the exchange of medical information and research, specialist training for Maltese and Italian health care professionals, the joint participation in medical networks, research programmes and development projects and collaboration in other twinning projects between Italy and Malta.

The Ministry is also working to set up a similar collaborative programme for the treatment of kidney-pancreas conditions in Pisa, and patients have already been sent for assessment and treatment in Milan.

The agreements confirm the ministry's commitment in continuing to work for the benefit of the Maltese patient and the Maltese public, the health ministry said.

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