Close to 150 children were sent abroad for medical treatment not available in Malta last year, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Friday. 

He was speaking at the President’s Palace, where a conference looking at the impact of cancer on children was held ahead of World Cancer Day, which falls on Sunday.

Cancer in children was so rare in Malta that finding a top specialist in each type of cancer was almost impossible, he added.

Mater Dei Hospital was also working on affiliating itself more closely with the European reference network, he said.

European reference networks help professionals and centres of expertise in different countries to share knowledge.

READ: Doctors to be given right to treat 16-year-olds without parental consent

Speaking at the event, President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said that the Emmanuel Cancer Research Foundation was working towards tackling the challenges of children’s cancer.

She also said that cancer prognosis is much worse in developing countries, and that there is a lot more that needs to be done to overcome inequality in healthcare access.

It is only by working together that we can effectively respond to the multifaceted issue, she added.

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