Committed to keep on voicing concerns of diabetics

Over the past year, I made no less than five appeals to the government to support diabetic patients and their families. This week we got the news that Continuous Glucose Monitors will be available to diabetic children in Malta. I am very pleased that finally, after a year since my first appeal, diabetic children will be given Continuous Glucose Monitors for free. This has been a long campaign. I had written twice to the Minister for Health (in April and June 2018) to make an appeal for Continuous Glucose Monitors to be available after several parents had approached me following a National Conference on Diabetes I had organised in January last year to explain to me what their children were going through. They explained how some had lost their finger prints due to the fact that they had to prick their fingers several times a day when all this could be avoided with the Continuous Glucose Monitors. To make matters worse, regretfully, over the past year children had to use 6mm needles as the government failed to provide 4mm needles in the absence of Continuous Glucose Monitors.

This was the third proposal that I made and that was eventually adopted by the government. These proposals included the provision of Continuous Glucose Monitors, the introduction of a diabetic nurse in the Gozo Hospital and the setting up of a parliamentary committee to discuss diabetes. In this regard, I want to reiterate my appeal for the government to provide diabetics with a lancet device. 

At the European Parliament I serve as the co-chair of the Diabetes Working Group. I have also taken this opportunity to raise the concerns of diabetics at EU level including during a meeting I held with the Commissioner for Health. This week I also met with Ignacio Garamendi, Regional Manager of the International Diabetes Federation Europe (IDF Europe) at the offices of the Federation in Brussels. During this meeting, Ignacio and I discussed the need to have reliable data on diabetes across the EU and the need of a concerted effort in terms of data collection. This is crucial for policy makers to take concrete actions based on scientific data and to devise policies accordingly.

I am currently in the process of meeting further stakeholders on diabetes and over the coming days I will be presenting further proposals to better the lives of diabetics. I commit myself that I will continue to be the voice of diabetics by speaking up for them and their needs. Finally, I pledge to further push forward health related policies on the EU’s agenda. Diabetes is and will remain one of my top priorities at European Parliament.