Free cancer medication for ovarian and cervical cancer announced

Ovarian and cervical cancer medication Bevicubamab will be given free to patients, the government announced today.

The €1 million project is expected to affect 35 patients who are currently undergoing treatment for the cancer.

This will be the fourth free cancer medication given to patients. Free leukaemia medication Azacitidine, bladder cancer medication Mitomycin C and prostate cancer medication Enzalutamide were introduced earlier this year.

Over 300 patients have benefited from the free medication, Health Minister Chris Fearne told a news conference.

Works on a new health centre at Kirkop costing €750,000 will start tomorrow and are expected to be completed in six to eight months.

Plans for a €26 million build-in regional hub in Paola are also underway, Fearne said. The 20,000 square metre project is expected to be finished next year.

Free insulin sticks for all diabetic patients also will be introduced next year, continued Fearne.  Type two diabetes patients already benefit from this scheme. 

Addressing a press conference in Mater Dei, Fearne congratulated newly appointed CEOs Roseanne Camilleri and Celia Falzon, who will now head the departments of primary health care and POYC respectively.

1,000 newborns have also made use of thyroid screen tests introduced just two months ago, the minister added.

“The health department has clearly been hard at work in the first 100 days of the Labour administration,” said Fearne. “Malta’s ranking as one of the top 10 countries in the global health index shows that our hard work is paying off.”