Medicines situation 'under control', government claims

Medicines the Nationalist Party claimed are out of stock are available at the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU), the government said on Wednesday.

The PN said on Tuesday that several medicines are out of stock and the government is keeping the full extent of the problem hidden.

It listed five specific pharmaceuticals saying they are currently unavailable in pharmacies and said several antibiotics are also out of stock.

But in a statement, the government said that while the pharmaceuticals mentioned by the PN are being distributed at Pharmacies of Your Choice (POYC)’s this week, the CPSU is also making sure that the antibiotics mentioned, or their equivalent, are also available.

The government said that while there was a shortage of medicines worldwide, the Maltese health authorities are working to ensure there are adequate consignments of medicines for Maltese and Gozitan patients.

In the past weeks, the Health Ministry held a number of meetings with the European Commission on the matter and the difficulties being faced around Europe to ensure that Malta continued to have as much access to medicines as the larger EU countries.

The ministry condemned “partisan...