Touching on his recent battle with prostate cancer, Government whip Godfrey Farrugia said that men who fall victim to it have access to a comprehensive range of treatment.

Speaking during thr adjournment, he appealed for a ‘well manned clinic,’ so that preventative measures and advice may be provided to men.

He expressed his pleasure with the overarching theme of the 2016 budget, which married the themes of health and the economy. He continued to say that strong and healthy people lead to a strong and healthy government.

Dr Farrugia discussed the issue of prostate cancer patients needing to fly overseas in order to undergo necessary operations, as was the case for him. He said that although this is happening less and less, there are alternative methods of treatment that would not require flying overseas for treatment, such as ‘bracket therapy,’ which refers to radiotherapy used to treat cancer.

He highlighted the need for a prostate cancer family support group – saying that through his experiences as a patient he became abundantly aware of the struggles and expenses that families of the patients go through.

He urged NGO’s that would be interested in providing such a support group to get the ball rolling, and offered to provide assistance through his experiences as a patient.