Budget 2025: Free gym memberships for 20-year-olds

The Government will be paying the first six months of gym memberships for young people born in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The measure forms part of Budget 2025’s health policy to prioritise physical exercise and sports.

Malta will be spending €140 in EU funds on healthcare infrastructure and medical devices.

A tender for the enlargement of the Emergency Department, the widening of Intensive Care services and the creation of an Acute Psychiatric Centre will be issued in the coming months.

€14 million will be spent on reducing waiting lists for certain operations, to see an increase of over 5,000 in the number of operations carried out through private hospitals.

The state will introduce national screening for children from 18 months of age who have communication difficulties.

Occupational therapy services will be introduced within the community for patients aged 16 and over, as well as in schools.

Sports, mental health

The government said it will “continue to support athletes” through SportMalta’s assistance to the Maltese Olympic Committee for athletes to continue their professional training both at home and abroad.

It will hand over land titles for the forthcoming motorsports track to the motorsport federation, with work beginning this year on the first structural phase of the National Motorsport Centre project.

“We believe that physical activity and participation in sports helps improve mental health,” finance minister Clyde Caruana said, announcing comprehensive initiatives that will increase knowledge and accessibility to mental healthcare while reducing the stigma associated with mental health.

The Government will be extending and funding first aid programmes for mental health in the community and in workplaces, to improve the skills to identify mental health problems faced by colleagues.