Malta’s main challenge, in terms of its health system, is sustainability given that the country is facing an ageing population and rising costs of medicines and new technologies, according to a health report.
The report also points out that the total expenditure on health, as a percentage of GDP, stood at 8.7 per cent in 2012 – below the EU average of 9.6 per cent.
The report – Health Systems in Transitions (HIT) – gives a snapshot of the health system in Malta. It was carried out by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. The last HIT report for Malta was carried out in 1999.
Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia said the report highlighted the need to focus on prevention and primary health care. The report showed that the large majority of people who used primary health care opted for the private sector because there was more continuity of care.
“An ageing population and decreased fertility rate are living proof that we are victims of our improved standards of living,” he said.
The report shows that life expectancy increased from 70.4 in 1980 to 81 years in 2011. The main causes of deaths were problems with the circulatory system such as heart problems (45 per cent of deaths) followed by cancer (27 per cent).
Non-communicable diseases, like obesity, remained a health problem. The fertility rate dropped from two babies per woman in 1991 to 1.4 in 2010 when a rate of 2.1 was considered adequate for replacements. Some 15 per cent of the population is over 65 years old.
A look at expenditure on health showed that 64 per cent was spent by government while 34 per cent came out of people’s pockets.
Malta had a high bed occupancy rate of 82 per cent in 2010, compared to the EU average of 76 per cent. The average length of stay highlighted one of the main problems – this had increased from 4.7 days in 2005 to 6.3 days in 2011. In contrast, the average length of stay across the EU was gradually declining. Had Malta retained the same rate of 4.7 days it would have saved 93,000 days since 2005.
Sarah Thomson, from the European Observatory, said that a lot of money could be saved through efficiency. However, in order to be successful there had to be a broader revenue base.
Hans Kluge, director of the division of Heath Systems and Public Health within the WHO, Europe said that each solution had to be tailored to suit a specific country and must be in line with longer-term goals.