Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia this morning launched a White Paper on the procurement of medicines by the government, their storage, and distribution in the Pharmacy of Your Choice Scheme.

The document is entitled "Ensuring your rights to entitlement medicines at the time you require them."

The launch was made at a San Gwann warehouse where the storage of medicine procured by the government will be stored.

Dr Farrugia said the government was streamlining the ICT support process for more efficiency and transparency. 

It was also changing the procurement process in an effort to remove the problem of out of stock medicines.

Dr Farrugia expressed concerns about some patients taking a 'cocktail' of medicines which may be harmful to their health. Under the new IT logging system such patients could be detected and tackled, he said.

He said doctors will be able to use an e-prescription system which will be linked to the POYC system, removing errors and ensuring sufficient medicines were available in the pharmacies needed them.

The 'yellow cards' for free medicines, currently numbering 114,000, will be replaced with pin and chip cards for greater traceability and security. This, he said, amounted to an updating of the myhealth system, the minister said.

The new system would enable doctors to change medication without referral to a consultant for approval under free medicine rules.

Dr Farrugia said it was unacceptable that procurement of medicines took up to 18 weeks. A team would be set up to set market standards, seek price fairness and seek possible new markets including the US, India and China. The team, he said, would establish realistic estimates between demand and supply. Between 2006 and 2010,  4.2m packets of medicines were thrown away because they were not used by their expiry date, he said.

He said there was a need for a pool of import agents who would be able to supply the same medicine, ensuring that medicines were not out of stock.

The White Paper will be uploaded on the Health Ministry website.

Dr Farrugia also spoke about the Health Ministry's priorities in general, saying primary health care, community services and hospital services needed to be seamlessly integrated in a patient-centered approach.

Particular emphasis was being placed on waiting times, hospital  overcrowding and the needs of vulnerable groups including those suffering from ME, MS, fibromyalgia and children suffering attention deficit disorders. (See video above).

He said there would be a public-private mix to enable patients to choose where they wished to receive their service.