Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi dedicated his interview on Radio 101 this morning to the health sector but yet again made no reference to a claim by former health minister Louis Deguara that the 2007 doctors' accord with the government was signed due to "orders from above" despite serious misgivings from the Health Division.
Dr Deguara made the claim to The Times last week.
During his interview, Dr Gonzi said his government was increasing health care expenditure, spending around €1 million a day in services to provide the people with the best care.
So the PL's allegation that the health care expenditure was being reduced was a lie and the expenditure on the sector this year was planned to be higher than last year's.
Dr Gonzi said that expenditure on operations this year increased to €64 million from €63 million last year.
There were also 76,000 people who were being provided with free medicines which they could now collect from the pharmacy of their choice.
The expenditure to operate this scheme last year was €2.3 million and it was going up to €3 million this year. This showed that, contrary to what the opposition was saying, expenditure for the health sector was on the rise.
Dr Gonzi recalled that when Alfred Sant was Prime Minister, the Labour government had ordered a five per cent reduction in expenditure at all government departments, including those related to health.
He said that the expenditure on the National Breast Screening Programme was being increased from €850,000 last year to €2 million this year. 14,445 women were examined for breast cancer so far and 177 were found to have early stage cancer, enabling them to have more effective care.
Zammit Clapp Hospital was refurbished with an investment of €1.2 million and this could now take 96 elderly people.
Last week, all the elderly over 80 who lived in their own home or with their families were sent a €300 assistance cheque. But the Labour Party did not say anything about this assistance.
Dr Gonzi said that the cost of widows, disability and retirement pensions was going up from €368 million last year to €377 million this year, children's allowance from €37 million last year to €42 million this year.
On the new oncology centre, Dr Gonzi said this would have three linear accelerators. Free cancer care medicines were also being given out and these increased by 91 since 2008. These included Herceptin which costs hundreds of euros per pill.
The government was also providing better care for dementia sufferers and it was to start giving free medicines to reduce the effects of the illness. Special wards for dementia patients were also built at St Vincent de Paul.
In the past two years, the government also negotiated with medicine importers leading to substantial drops in the cost of medicines.
The government now provided 1,334 medicines free of charge at a cost of €70 million a year.
All this had been possible because of the government's decisions in the past four years, leading to a reduction in waste. The money saved could be invested in health, education and the environment.
He said that 120 operations a day were carried out at Mater Dei against the 90 operations a day which used to be carried out at St Luke's Hospital. All this required huge investment in human resources and equipment.
Operations for which patients used to have to travel were now being carried out in Malta.
The government was also investing more to improve community care. Family doctors last year saw half a million people in health sectors, an increase of 120,000 over 2008. The government was also working to provide family doctors with more tools to be able to access their patients' information.
The government invested in projects to provide the country with open spaces, cleaner air and cleaner seas, treating drainage before this was thrown into the sea.
The government had also given 5,400 families €3,000 each to invest in photovoltaic saving them from the cost of water and electricity and reducing the strain on power stations.