Our country has been chosen to host a Ministerial meeting organized by the WHO next November with the theme ‘Health Work Force Planning’. This was announced in Cyprus during the meeting ‘Tenth High-level Meeting of the Small Countries Initiative: converging on small-country health priorities’ attended by the Minister for Health and Active Aging Jo Etienne Abela.
The meeting being held in Cyprus is focusing primarily on two main areas: cancer, including population screening programs and pediatric cancer, as well as health and climate change, including the impact and the experiences of small countries.
In his intervention, Minister Jo Etienne Abela spoke about the prevention and treatment of cancer diseases. He emphasized on the importance of increasing more awareness about the cancer disease and to encourage more people to do cancer screening so that they can identify disease problems early on.The Minister also spoke about the work being done in Malta to address obesity.
Regarding the future of cancer treatment, he mentioned how our country is continuing to study in more detail the link between biogenetics and artificial intelligence so that it can lead to personalized treatment.
Minister Abela also discussed the challenges faced by small countries in the acquisition of medicines. He said how these challenges continue to grow due to language problems, as well as geo-political problems that impact prices and logistics. He reiterated that Malta looks forward to more collaboration and solidarity in this field. The WHO agreed with Minister Abela on this point and also mentioned that the acquisition of equipment and technology should also be given priority.
Regarding the effects of climate change, Minister Abela mentioned how in Malta the governmental entities have an action plan for climate change and reiterated that the Maltese Government is committed to continue taking action against this the global phenomenon.
“I look forward to next November, as our country together with the WHO will be hosting a number of countries for a ministerial meeting, during which the theme of Health Work Force Planning will be discussed”, concluded Minister Abela.
