€930,020 annual grant for Dar Bjorn home for ALS sufferers

The government will be giving €930,020 each year to finance various services for persons resident in Dar Bjorn, which cares for those suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), motor-neuron diseases (MN), multiple sclerosis (MS), and other serious neurological conditions, with the amount of care paid for being dependent on the level of care which the respective patients require.

Family minister Michael Falzon and parliamentary secretary for the disabled Antony Agius Decelis announced that the government had signed a contract with the ALS foundation which will see a maximum of 13 persons benefitting from the care provided by Dar Bjorn, named in honour of ALS patient and ALS Foundation founder Bjorn Formosa.

The contract was signed between parliamentary secretary Mark Musu and Formosa.

Agius Decelis said that Dar Bjorn was one of eight community residences forming part of the Project Just Society, which aimed to make a difference in the lives of various people.

The home will not only give dignity to those resident there, Agius Decelis said, but would also serve as a support mechanism for those being cared for there, as well as their families.

This demonstrated how the government not only worked to create wealth, but also strived to have such wealth distributed throughout society, the parliamentary secretary maintained.

Falzon said he was satisfied that the government had signed such a contract, as he noted that the home would be led by professionals in the relevant sector, and would be kept in excellent condition by workers who would perform frequent maintenance work.

“This is testimony to the fact that the government is ready to stick its neck out for these type of cases, because it truly believes that prompt action would make a difference in the lives of persons who are going through a difficult period,” Falzon maintained.