More funds for prevention, early diagnosis and higher-quality treatment are the main proposals of a Nationalist Party policy document on the fight against cancer.
Shadow health minister Stephen Spiteri presented 30 proposals to better respond to the disease during a news conference outside Mater Dei Hospital.
The PN is calling for more investment to promote healthy lifestyles and for the authorities to consider population-based prostate cancer screening. It is also proposing that EU funds are dedicated to further cancer research among children, incentives are offered for investment in cancer medicine and make better use of European reference networks.
The party feels there should be psychological support to those affected, especially children, and to assist in patients’ participation in international clinical trials.
Another proposal is for the breast screening clinic to be better funded and for a young adults section to be set up at the oncology hospital.
30 proposals to better respond to the disease
The policy document outlines measures for exchanging information with other EU member states prior to rolling out certain policies and calls for Malta to sign the Council of Europe Convention for Bioethics, which gives more rights to patients and researchers.
Furthermore, the PN wants to make cancer vaccines more accessible.
Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech said the policy document had been discussed in Brussels with major European stakeholders as well as with medical professionals and researchers.
Statistics released by the National Cancer Platform earlier this year indicate that an average of one in every four deaths in Malta is caused by cancer, with the disease accounting for 29 per cent of all male deaths and 24 per cent in the case of females.
Medical practitioners estimate that about 40 per cent of cancers could be preventable, with cigarette smoking and excess body weight the most common cancer-causing risk factors.
Researchers say that the cancer death rate has been falling across the EU, although the total number of deaths is rising due to population increases.