Reggie Fava is a council member and former president of the Chamber of Commerce and also chairs the healthcare business sector, which represents medicine importers, retailers and the pharmaceutical industry. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Businessman and long-serving Chamber of Commerce official Reginald Fava has warned that if political parties keep treating free healthcare as a ‘sacred cow’ the entire system risked collapse.

He said that the government should seriously consider charging for certain health services.

Mr Fava was speaking to Times of Malta ahead of a conference organised by the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry on Friday, which will discuss the way forward for an efficient, fair and sustainable healthcare system.

Representatives from political parties and the Church have been invited.

“Our main concern is that the healthcare system is not sustainable and, so, the chamber feels it is its duty to put the problem on the country’s agenda before it is too late,” he said.

The businessman, who owns a chain of pharmacies, backed up his argument by referring to the oncology hospital currently being built, which, he said, would only make matters worse.

The problem is not lack of political will but fear of losing votes. We have to be radical, while being honest and fair

Mr Fava said the chamber’s interest was spurred by genuine concern for the sustainability of the system, pointing out that its members were most likely to be the first ones “penalised” if some aspects of the health service would no longer remain free.

“People must realise that receiving free medicines just to throw them away is completely wrong,” he said.

Some even expected Mater Dei Hospital to cater for the most trivial cases that could be addressed at a clinic or health centre, he said.

Mr Fava called for Mater Dei management to start issuing dummy bills to all its patients, simply to make them aware how much their treatment had cost.

“The other side of the coin is that there are patients who are being left suffering, leaving them with no option but to beg from the Community Chest Fund as the State cannot afford to cover their medical expenses.”

Asked about the fact that both parties seem to lack the political appetite to address the issue, fearing a backlash from the electorate, Mr Fava replied that the chamber’s aim was to instigate a change in mentality.

“The problem is not lack of political will but fear of losing votes. We have to be radical, while being honest and fair,” he said.

Mr Fava said there was no room for partisan politics, accusing both parties of competing on who could dish out the most freebies using taxpayers’ money, with little accountability.

He lauded Opposition MP Claudio Grech, who was behind the initiative of setting up a bipartisan standing committee on health.

“The government should pounce on this golden opportunity,” he said.

The chamber will also submit representations to the government regarding the Pharmacy Of Your Choice scheme, with Mr Fava lamenting that not enough consultation was carried out before it was introduced in 2008.

The submissions will be made as part of a White Paper on medicines, launched in November.

The chamber is proposing that patients are refunded the cost of medicines rather than obtain them for free straightaway. He clarified that the system would also cater for those who could not afford such a financial outlay.

Mr Fava explained that the system in place left much to be desired, especially when patients were told that certain medicinals were officially out of stock but could be purchased.

“People are not satisfied with the service and pharmacists are being overwhelmed with clerical work, which is then putting them under intense pressure.”

More details on the chamber’s ideas would be given during the conference.

He described the proposals as “revolutionary” and hinted that the thrust would be to have the system managed much more efficiently by the private sector in the fields of procurement and distribution.

Mr Fava said the government’s feedback to the suggestions had been very encouraging.

The chamber is also calling for a revision of the formula of free medicines to ensure products deemed crucial in treating very serious illnesses and conditions are included, instead of “ordinary” medicine such as aspirin.

Means testing should be used to identify genuine cases, it suggested.

Mr Fava noted there were “glaring examples” of people who were abusing the system.

The conference is open to the public and is free of charge. Those interested can e-mail dorianne.formosa@maltachamber.org.mt.