The Health Department has filed a counter-protest to the Medical Association's objections toa new chief of disease control. 

Medical Association of Malta representatives had filed a judicial protest last week arguing that Paula Vassallo, the new Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, was not qualified for the job as she was not a medical doctor. 

Health Minister Chris Fearne had subsequently defended the appointment, saying that the new chief was "amply qualified" and that a medical degree was not a stipulated requirement for the post. 

The Health Department has now filed a counter-protest to that effect, noting that the call for applications had clearly listed the job vacancy's prerequisites. 

The MAM's original judicial protest had cited various responsibilities which in reality involved consultation with various specialists and were not the sole responsibility of the head of disease control, the Health Department said.

Furthermore, the MAM's claims that a collective agreement had been breached by the appointment were untrue, the department has argued, given that nothing in the agreement required the government to appoint a medical doctor to the directors' post.