Thirty nine years ago to the day, people in this country were deprived of the care of most of their doctors when these were locked out of government hospitals. Many patients were subsequently made to pay for this with their health, some even with their lives.

Doctors were dismissed for having taken part in an action ordered by the Medical Association of Malta and supported by the World Medical Association. Against every conceivable human right, the government then passed a law banning doctors who obeyed union directives from working in private hospitals. These doctors found it impossible to earn a living for their families in their home country; many were forced to leave and were effectively exiled, some never coming back.

I write to commemorate the event. Sadly, in 2014, during the 50th anniversary dinner of the Maltese medical association, in a speech supposedly covering the history of the association, not one word was mentioned to refer to the various disputes that doctors had with governments over the years.

This includes the above saga that lasted for 10 out of the 50-year history of the association.

At the time I had written to the president of the association asking for an explanation for this omission. In spite of various verbal promises that a written explanation/apology would be forthcoming, this apology has, to date, not arrived.

I write to make up for this omission and to honour those members of the association, many now dead, who fought and who suffered so much during this period. Lest people forget.