Alternattiva Demokratika would propose legislation to lower prices for medicinal products if it was elected to Parliament.

Medicines importation should be reformed so as to reduce their prices, AD chairman Michael Briguglio said yesterday.

In addition to the importation of medicine being carried out by the private sector, the Government should consider its involvement in bringing in essential medicines should the need arise.

AD’s healthcare-related proposals include the extension of the pharmacy of your choice (POYC) scheme so patients would not be faced with out-of-stock medicine. Patients should be able to collect medicines from any pharmacy instead of the present centralised system where the lot is procured by the Government.

Other proposals include a health centre open for 24 hours in every district to provide for primary and secondary emergency care.

Licences should be issued so that certain medicines which do not require a prescription are made available from other shops that are not necessarily pharmacies.

This system is successfully employed in other countries such as the UK, Italy and Germany, AD says.