President George Vella has praised the government for its decision to start providing life-saving medicine for cystic fibrosis patients in Malta, claiming that his intervention help formulate the decision. 

“A very wise decision taken by the government to start providing the medicines needed for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis,” he said on Facebook.

“My interventions with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance, and the Commissioner of Health were not in vain. Good luck, Mandy,” he ended.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Robert Abela promised that Malta’s cystic fibrosis patients will receive a new, life-saving medicine, Kaftrio, following months of appeal by a 26-year-old patient, Mandy Vella.

In recent days, Vella went public about her struggles with the condition.

“I’ve spoken to the Health Minister and Finance Minister and funds will be allocated. I’ve given direction for the procurement process to start immediately. It won’t happen overnight but we’ll hurry up as much as possible. I’m a father too and I could see how concerned your mother was when we spoke,” Abela said yesterday as he broke the good news to Vella directly. 

Cystic fibrosis impacts the cells which produce mucus, causing them to become thick and sticky and resulting in them blocking up tubes, ducts and passageways, particularly in the lungs and pancreas.

It’s a progressive illness that requires daily treatment to constantly remove mucus from the body.

However, hope for cystic fibrosis sufferers recently emerged through the drug Kaftrio (also known as Trikafta), which was approved for use by the European Medicines Agency last August.

According to Abela, the medicine will soon be made avialable to patients in Malta.

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