I recently wrote in the correspondence columns about a meeting organised by the Malta Diabetes Association.

I asked why only 10 syringes are given monthly to diabetes patients, irrespective of how many doses of insulin they need to take every day.

A few days later, association president Anna Zammit McKeon wrote in and among other things made the point that, quite differently, patients who used the injection pen were given a needle for every jab.

It is now only fair to state that when I went to Mater Dei Hospital to pick up a phial of a certain type of insulin, because the POYC pharmacy did not have any in stock, I was given pen-type cartridges. When I said I used phials, the pharmacist said they would no longer be available and pens would be used instead. Accordingly the pharmacist gave me a new pen and the equivalent of one needle per jab.

This means that in a very short time all diabetes patients will be using pens with the right amount of needles. And I don’t think my letter had anything to do with the decision. It must have been already in the pipeline when I wrote. A big well done to the Health Department.

It leaves only one question. After the overlap stock of syringes is used up, will free new syringes continue to be exchanged for used ones for drug addicts, in order to avoid hepatitis through sharing?