(Adds government's reaction)

The Labour Party has welcomed the agreement between the government and the private sector for the provision of PET Scans until the government installed its own scanner at Mater Dei.

However, it called on the government to publish the agreement reached.

In a statement, PL spokesman Michael Farrugia said that the Labour government had, in 1997, reached a similar agreement for MRIs.

He hoped that during negotiations the government kept in mind the regular loan, free of charge, of medical equipment to the private sector, in certain cases to the detriment of the Gozo Hospital, as noted by the Auditor General in his negative comments.

He criticised the government for denying patients this service for many years, in spite of several requests by specialists.

GOVERNMENT'S REACTION

In a statement the government said it was taking more initiatives for the benefit of patients but the opposition did its utmost to cast doubts.

The PET Scan examination was being given free of charge together with a number of other free services, including breast screening, the drug Herceptin, the possibility of family doctors ordering tests for prostate cancer, the expansion in the free medicine distribution system and the number of operations, which last year reached 39,000.