Government’s budget proposal for a national breast screening programme is itself the subject of scrutiny, after doubts have been expressed by the medical community regarding the viability of the proposal.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi surprised many during his budget speech by announcing that a national breast screening programme would be implemented over a number of years, starting from 2008.
The following day, the Head of the Radiotherapy and Oncology Department, Stephen Brincat, was reported as being unaware of any form of programme being implemented for the 2008 Budget. According to Brincat, he had recommended some suggestions for a programme. Gonzi, however, appears not to have notified anyone in the medical field about the announced programme, a fact which automatically incurred the criticism of Opposition leader Alfred Sant, who accused the government of “political immorality”.
Officially, Mater Dei will host this programme, which will involve the supply of new digital state of the art equipment and the employment of a number of fully qualified radiologists. The programme will initially target women between the age of 50 to 60, which is when risk of diagnosis is at its highest.
All this is welcome news to local awareness group Action for Breast Cancer Foundation, which has long been advocating a screening programme. “Every two minutes, a woman in Europe is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every six minutes a woman dies because of breast cancer,” ABCF claims on its website.
In Malta alone, approximately 200 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Almost 70 of them die because of this disease.
However, this programme may not be the godsend they were hoping for, and Labour MP Helena Dalli openly doubts the governments’ credibility on the issue.
“According to the experts in the field we have not reached the point yet where we can seriously talk about having a national breast screening programme,” Dalli told this newspaper. “Let us start with a programme for women at high risk, a programme that the government has been dragging its feet over for so many years.”
According to Dalli, not even the health minister was aware that a national breast-screening programme would be announced. She stated this after having been on television with Minister Louis Deguara who said that Malta does not have the necessary resources to start a programme for women at high risk.
But the Ministry of Health rebutted Dalli’s comments. “It was to say the least presumptuous if not outright arrogant of her to expect the minister to divulge any measures contemplated in the budget simply because she was taking part in a programme on breast screening.”
Gozitan Labour MP Justyne Caruana said: “A breast screening programme is very needed however Gozo seems very far off from seeing any improvements. There is no equipment available in Gozo and cancer patients must either go privately, which is costly, or travel to Malta, which can cause problems. Mammograms cannot even be conducted here.
“What we need to realise is that cancer does not only occur in women, but also in men and this issue needs to be raised. Breast cancer is on the increase and it seems to me that it is being ignored. The government is not supplying the equipment to Gozo. We should not be directing our attention to the government or the opposition, but rather it should be to the people.”
The greatest problem currently being faced by the government to implement this life-saving programme seems to be the lack of specialists in the area needed. “Our ultimate goal is to have local radiologists delivering the service. Recruitment from overseas has proven difficult due to the scarcity and great demand for such specialists,” a health ministry official said.
Malta is not the only country facing problems of a lack of resources. Elsewhere, mammograms are sent digitally to specialised centres overseas for a prognosis. Malta will be following suit since the recruitment of specialists from overseas has been deemed problematic due to the great demand.
“The scarcity of human medical resources is of concern throughout all the developed countries. We have been patiently waiting over the past five years for the return to Malta of three fully qualified Maltese radiologists to be in a position to launch a fully-fledged national breast-screening programme.”
Besides breast screening, the government has embarked on another project regarding cancer care. Zammit Clapp Hospital will be transformed into a 60-bed oncology hospital over the next two years equipped with the latest technology for cancer care. Two linear accelerators, which alone cost around Lm2.5 million, will be installed and the government is also considering the inclusion of a PET scanner. Plans are already being made with MEPA.
“We have a long way to go but we are putting a sound and solid foundation for years to come,” the ministry said.

bcaruana@mediatoday.com.mt