CommercialCourier
Issue 102 | November 2022
57
Reading between the lines CLAUDETTE BUTTIGIEG, PN SPOKESPERSON FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES, SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND DIABETES
I would like to start by thanking the Chamber for this opportunity. Sadly, it has become a rare occasion for members of the Opposition to be given an independent platform to voice their opinion and reflect the concern of those we represent.
T
he Budget speech for the year 2023, delivered by the Hon Minister Clyde Caruana on Monday 24th October 2022 in the Parliament of Malta, is a cleverly written document. Scant from facts and numbers, the document was purposely put together to leave room for wide open interpretation of what it should mean to those concerned. The overused cliche that the devil is in the details clearly applies to this document hands down. In the sections of the speech related to the different areas I shadow, this lack of clarity is present and I will highlight it accordingly.
DIABETES Diabetes (Type 1 & Type 2) affects over 10 percent of our population. Uncontrolled diabetes can result in morbid conditions with very serious consequences. These consequences end up in traumatic hospital interventions and may include debilitating conditions in the eyes, kidneys and limbs. It is therefore paramount for the health authorities to work hard on preventing (where possible) the onset of diabetes and to educate and empower patients to be in control of their condition to avoid morbidity and poor quality of life. Recently, this government introduced a technology to help patients control the level of glucose in their blood. Remote Patient Monitoring is a fantastic set-up where patients with Type 1 diabetes are given a Constant Glucose Monitor which reads the level of sugar in the blood in real-time. This reading is then sent to a number of mobile phone devices to close families but, above all, to a monitoring centre run by health care professionals. This system helps the patients, and their loved ones, have peace of mind that the levels of glucose are within the acceptable parameters.
Returning our focus to this year’s Budget Speech, Minister Caruana mentioned this condition only twice. Firstly, to announce that new medicines will be introduced (without specifying which) and, secondly, to announce a new service in the primary sector. So far, so good. He then said the following, “Permezz talproġett tar-Remote Patient Monitoring, pazjenti b’livell għoli ta’ zokkor fid-demm ser ikomplu jiġu mmonitorjati.” This means that the service will continue… but does it mean that the service will be extended? If, to date, the Remote Patient Monitoring system covers children (from birth) to young people aged 20, does this mean that the service will be extended to those aged 21 years and older? This is not clear, although many are interpreting this as a continuation of what there is at the moment and not an extension of the service as the Minister promised in reply to a parliamentary question on 9 May 2022. To quantify what this means to the patients themselves and their families, the monthly consumables for a patient to maintain a basic constant glucose monitor is three hundred euros. Of course, few can afford this, and patients end up using less efficient methods to monitor the level of glucose in the blood. This could possibly result in uncontrolled diabetes, thereby leading to the consequences I mentioned earlier.
MCESD Another mind-boggling point from the Minister’s Budget 2023 speech is the reference to Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD). The first of two references to MCESD was related to the fact that social dialogue with the main stakeholders is going to continue and that the government will be using European funds for this purpose.
“It is therefore paramount for the health authorities to work hard on preventing (where possible) the onset of diabetes and to educate and empower patients to be in control of their condition to avoid morbidity and poor quality of life.”
Why announce the continuity of such an important forum? Was there a possibility that this was going to be stopped? Were funds an issue and has someone now discovered that EU funds can be used for this important part of our democracy? The lack of reference to the possibility of restructuring the way MCESD functions has left most stakeholders wondering if they could even hope of seeing such changes. Changes which could, and should, include the appointment of the chairperson and the quality of the discussion to ensure that the MCESD is not just a talking shop. Of course, these are just two points which I chose to highlight but I am sure that there are many other ambiguous statements made in this year’s Budget speech which definitely need clarifying. n
