The Times published a letter last week that complained about the high cost of many medicines.

Two or three years ago, the Government told us that it was taking action to secure reductions on the 3,500 or so kinds of medicines that are imported and, since then, I recall two more statements it has made saying that the prices of some 350 of them have been reduced.

So it may take another 10 years to review them all.

In the meantime, the simple laxative medicine, Lactulose, costs five times as much in Malta as it does in the UK, Spain and Sweden, where the price is about €6 for a litre but it costs just as much for only 200 ml in Malta.