An agreement signed between the Maltese government and a transplant institute in Palermo will change the lives of people needing a lung transplant as they will no longer have to travel to the UK to undergo the procedure.

Costs, flights, accommodation, transport will be covered by the government

Maltese nationals will undergo transplant operations, costing some €140,000, at the Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione.

Up till now, patients had to move to the UK, at times even for years, to undergo the operation and follow-up treatment.

Unfortunately, the long waiting list meant some would die before a lung became available.

For a lung transplant to be carried out, there has to be a match in blood type and the organ has to fit the recipient’s chest cavity.The procedure is used as a last resort.

The most common causes are restriction of the flow of air into the lungs or when the lungs are incapable of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. An example is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, normally a result of chronic bronchitis or emphysema. The narrowing of the airways causes breath shortness.