Costly medicines for diabetics should be distributed for free by the State - Francis Zammit Dimech

Nationalist MEP Francis Zammit Dimech has appealed to the government to increase the availability of lifesaving medicine for diabetics. 

The medicines in question, GLP-1 Agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors, avoid complications, chances of strokes and heart attacks, according to industry professionals. 

Both medicines are available on the formulary in other European Union (EU) member states, yet are not on the national formulary in Malta, according to Zammit Dimech. 

Zammit Dimech, who also co-chairs the EU diabetes working group, met with the Malta Diabetes Association on Friday. 

The medicine’s cost ranges between €60 to €130, and according to industry experts, this is creating a divide between those who can afford it and those who can’t. 

The MEP candidate also said that despite his 1 year campaign to make the continuous glucose monitors (CGM) available, and the government’s communication that such CGMs will be made available, families have still complained to him that children were still waiting for the device. 

CGMs continuously monitor children’s sugar levels without the need of them pricking their fingers several times a day.