Looking back at 2021 | Malta’s mysterious sexual health bill

After years of empty promises, an updated sexual health policy is nowhere to be seen; and still does not appear to be on the horizon after it was sent back to the drawing board because it was based on 12-year-old studies.  

Health Minister Chris Fearne said the policy would not be ready before next year. The current sexual health policy was drawn up 11 years ago, and the government has long promised an updated version to reflect modern-day realities.    

In October 2020, Fearne said the health authorities were aiming to conclude updates to Malta’s sexual health policy during the first half of 2021. This did not materialise.  

Then earlier in the first half of 2021, Fearne made the startling revelations that the island’s sexual health policy had to be pushed back further because it was based on studies from 12 years ago. “I was given a draft of the policy, but it was based on studies from 12 years ago. Public health has now been tasked to carry out a new study to understand the sexual practices of people today,” Fearne had told journalists.  

The health minister divulged that the results of the study would be available at the start of 2022, and a new sexual health policy would be drafted afterwards. 

NGOs such as the Women’s Rights Foundation have been calling for an updated sexual health policy as far back as 2018. The group had recommended revisions be made to reflect legal and societal changes occurring since 2011, with clear responsibilities, timelines and measures of monitoring and evaluation to ensure accountability and quality standards in services and the development of better sexuality education programmes.   

In 2021 Dr Natalie Psaila Practice, a member of Doctors for Choice, said it was time for Malta to have a robust sexual health framework and protect its population from sexually transmitted infections and unexpected. 

Psaila raised the point that despite the morning-after-pill (MAP) having been available in Malta since 2016, the debate surrounding the medicine continues to this day, with anti-choice continuing to insist that MAP is abortive. “All three types of MAP available in Malta have had to go through a rigorous process. They’re the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) specifically states that the MAP is not abortive,” Psaila said.  

Yet, the MAP is not available for purchase from all pharmacies because of conscientiously objecting pharmacists. To make matters even worse, the MAP is not on the government formulary, which means that women cannot buy it from the hospital pharmacy after hours. 

In fact, an investigation by MaltaToday found that MAP was still difficult to source on the island, especially on Sundays and public holidays.  

A journalist from this paper who posed as a prospective client found that all pharmacies on the Sunday roster from 7 November until 8 December, a public holiday, in area 3 (Qormi and Santa Venera) said that they did not sell emergency contraception.  

And travelling to the neighbouring localities of Hamrun and Marsa, which comprise Area 2, is unlikely to solve the problem. On five of the six Sundays and public holidays under review, the pharmacies on the roster in Area 2 do not sell the morning-after pill. 

The investigation also found that in Gozo, none of the only two pharmacies open sold the morning-after pill on one of the days, which means anybody on the sister island requiring the contraception will have to travel to Malta. 

Historic bill presented in parliament 

In May 2021, independent MP Marlene Farrugia presented a historic bill to decriminalise abortion in Malta that was filed in parliament. 

“It makes absolutely no sense,” Farrugia said, “that a woman looking for self-determination, looking for medical intervention, ends up being criminalised and condemned instead of being offered help.” 

Farrugia said that the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to reflect on the health struggles faced by women, saying that Malta needs better awareness of women’s needs in today’s society, including medical and sexual education needs, to increase the quality of life among women in Malta. 

“I feel that this should be the platform from which we go forward so that all women push an agenda for health structures that support women from birth […] till old age so that we can create a better life not just for women or children, […] but for all society.” 

Malta is one of a few countries in the world and the only EU state to completely ban the termination of pregnancy. 

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge in requestions for abortion from Malta according to Abortion Support Network (ASN); the 2020 figures had suppressed the previous figures.   

The statistics suggest an increased demand in terminations during the COVID-19 pandemic after flights to countries where hospitals offer abortions were shut down.