Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/591015
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2015 11 MARTINA BORG HEALTH parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne has said that breast cancer medications are to be dis- cussed in an upcoming Govern- ment Formulary List Advisory Committee (GFLAC). In an interview published last week, cancer patient Claire Ebejer spoke to Malt Today and called for the government to reform its medicines formulary list so that it could account for recent medical developments in the treatment of cancer. Ebejer was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, and after the dis- ease spread to her brain in 2014, she required specific medication costing her some €3,000 a month to contain the tumour she suffers from and keep it from spreading further. The medication, known as Lapatinib, is not currently on the medicine's formulary list, which has prompted groups such as the Action for breast cancer foundation, as well as politicians, to push for changes to the list of medicines offered by the state. "The Department of Health al- ways attempts to gain the most value possible for Maltese patients out of the medications budget as- signed to it," Fearne said. Under the 2016 Budget, the health ministry announced that it would add diabetes medicines to the list, but so far, nothing has been said about adding cancer medications. "As stated in the budget speech, the government is actively study- ing alternative and innovative ways of financing medications – including new cancer drugs as well as 'orphan' drugs – that is, drugs that are commercially underde- veloped given that they are used for very specific and relatively rare reasons," Fearne said in response to questions from this newsroom. Asked about the frequency of new medicines being added to the list, he said the list is "periodically revised with the inclusion of new medicines". Fearne explained that an ap- plication for introduction must be submitted for a medicine to be introduced on the list, after which a health technology assess- ment (HTA) is performed and the medicine is discussed during the aforementioned committee. "The committee then recom- mends or does not recommend the medication for introduction onto the list, and recommenda- tions or rejections are then taken into consideration along with clin- ical evidence, outcome on disease progression and cost," he added. Asked whether there are any al- ternatives to Lapatinib currently on the formulary, Fearne ex- plained that Lapatinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with breast cancer. "As per clinical evidence, it is not curative but when used in com- bination to other breast cancer anti-tumour agents, it has been effectively proven to prolong life," he said. He added that there are current- ly several medicines for treatment of breast cancer that can be used alone or in a combination with other medicines. News 7"5SFEVDFEUP POTQPSUJOHBDUJWJUJFT #Budget2016 5IJTZPVOHDPVQMF NBSSJFEUXPZFBSTBHP )FXPSLTGVMMUJNFBOE FBSOTŵTIFXPSLT QBSUUJNFFBSOJOHŵ $VUTJOJODPNFUBY TBWFTUIFNŵBZFBS -PXFSFMFDUSJDJUZXBUFS BOEGVFMDPTUT TBWFEUIFNŵ 5IFZTBWFEŵTUBNQ EVUZXIFOCVZJOHUIFJS GJSTUIPVTF 5IFZIBWFBDIJMEBOE CFOFGJUGSPN GSFFDIJMEDBSF TBWJOHUIFNŵ 4IFTUBSUFEBKPC SFDFOUMZRVBMJGZJOH GPSJOXPSLCFOFGJU PGŵ *OUIFQBTUUXPZFBST UIFZIBWFTBWFE ŵ VOEFSUIJT (PWFSONFOU "OEUIFSFBSFNPSF TBWJOHTUPDPNF Cancer drugs on agenda for inclusion in formulary list Union bickering blamed for stalled bus improvements MIRIAM DALLI THE ongoing "fights" between the General Workers Union and the Union Haddiema Maghqu- din is stopping Malta Public Transport from implementing new services and improvements, the MPT claimed. MPT's parent company Auto- buses de Leon (ALESA) called on the unions to cease the fight- ing, which was hindering both the provision of services and the workers themselves. "We implore both unions to stop this fighting which is all to the detriment of the employees, public transport users and the country in general," director Ju- lio Tironi said. "The unions should at least let the company proceed with the improvements in the serv- ices under the current working conditions, until this legal con- tradiction that the unions them- selves are creating, is solved." The company is currently fac- ing three prohibitory injunc- tions: one prohibiting it from talking with UHM, another one prohibiting it from to talk- ing with the GWU, and a third one prohibiting it from running a verification process to deter- mine which union has the ma- jority representation. "We are complying with the current collective agreement conditions, duties and rest pe- riods and all employment laws. We have not changed anything related to the working condi- tions for employees this year. Unfortunately for the employees, we haven't been able to improve them, but they are definitely not worse than before. Until we have a new collective agreement, I'm afraid that they need to remain the same," Tironi said. Tironi said improvements in the working conditions were essential to reach an overall im- provement in the bus service. "However the Company is ready to launch the new services and new routes with the current working conditions which com- ply with the collective agreement still in force until a new agree- ment is reached with whichever Union has representation." The MPT insisted that it had done its utmost to reach an agreement with the Union, of- fering much better conditions and accepting practically all the parameters that the employees are requesting. "We are confident that we will reach an agreement with whichever union achieves rep- resentation in the near future. However, now is time to start delivering the public transport services that the Maltese public deserves." The MPT said that a court had confirmed a strike carried out by public transport workers was "illegal" and the Company was within its rights when it stopped both the GWU and UHM from striking in the interest of the general public's right to mobil- ity. The Court ruled that industrial actions must be complied with by the unions and employees, and that 50% of the bus service must be maintained. It also confirmed that the war- rant was validly issued against the UHM, so MPT was correct to request the court to order UHM to stop striking in breach of the law. Even if UHM declared in Court that they had not par- ticipated in the strike, this deci- sion proves that they could not sustain their claim, MPT said. This is a paid advert