Be the first to comment!4mm pen needles should be available to Type 1 diabetics, says MEP
 Email item
|  Print item
|
|
MEP Francis Zammit Dimech has called on the Government to make 4mm pen needles available to Type 1 diabetics with immediate effect.
The MEP said in a statement that, this is the least the government should do to alleviate pain of several patients including children since the government has not yet provided a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGMs) that waive the need to draw blood several times a day.”
The remarks were made by Zammit Dimech after he had sent to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne a second letter in 3 months.
The MEP went on to say that in the last weeks several parents have made contact with him claiming that the government “was only providing for free 6mm pen needles, forcing them to buy the 4mm needles to ease pain on their children.”
Zammit Dimech claimed that despite the Government’s pledge to start providing CGMs as of this legislature, these monitors are not yet freely available to diabetic patients, except to those who are able to afford them. Thus, patients have to be pricked several times a day to monitor their glucose level.
A letter had already been sent by the MEP in April to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne asking him to make available CGMs. “The Minister had only acknowledged the letter through his private secretariat,” Zammit Dimech said.
The Maltese MEP, who is co-chair of the EU diabetes-working group, said that he will continue with his campaign to ensure that Maltese and Gozitans diabetics are provided with free CGMs.
“I will not stop in maintaining my pressure on the Maltese Government to ensure that these monitors which are crucial for patients are available to those in need,” he said.
MEP Zammit Dimech, in his letter to Mr Fearne, reiterated the call made earlier on this month together with MP Mario Galea that the Parliamentary Committee on Diabetes should be re-established.
Zammit Dimech concluded by saying that, “it is necessary to give high priority to diabetes especially when the incidence of those who suffer from it total to around 10% of the Maltese population.”
