Another 35 cancer patients will start receiving medicinal treatment for free, Health Minister Chris Fearne said this afternoon.

Enlisting achievements within the health sector since the June election, Dr Fearne said the medicine, called Bevicumab for cervix cancer patients, has joined other medicines that the government is providing for free to cancer patients.

So far, there are three other such medicines on the state's formulary, including one that benefits around 300 bladder cancer patients, and two others that treat leukaemia and prostate cancer patients.

Specialised treatment is being provided [at St Luke's Hospital] to 700 stroke patients.

Dr Fearne noted that the first 100 days were no honeymoon for the health sector.

Work will kick off in October on the new health centre in Kirkop, while the ‘design and build’ tender for the Paola regional hub will open tomorrow, he said. This €26 million investment tender will close in two months and the adjudication process will kick off later this year or at the beginning of the next.

Dr Fearne also referred to the refurbishment of part of St Luke’s Hospital, which is now hosting a stroke unit. In collaboration with Vitals Global Healthcare, specialised treatment is being provided there to 700 stroke patients.

Meanwhile, the state has also invested in human resources, employing 116 new doctors and 159 nurses over the past three months, while a call has also been launched for allied care workers.

By the end of this year all patients who depend on insulin will be eligible for free diabetes testing strips

When it comes to treatment, by the end of this year all patients who depend on insulin will be eligible for free diabetes testing strips. These strips will start being distributed to all diabetes patients (including those who do not take insulin) by the end of next year so that all diabetes patients in Malta can monitor their sugar levels.

Dr Fearne also spoke of new thyroid screening, which has so far benefitted 1,000 new-borns out of the average of 4,500 babies that are born every year.

The minister noted that this and other investment was already showing positive results, with the weekly peer-reviewed medical journal Lancet placing Malta eighth out of 188 countries in its global index.