If the quality of life deteriorated, the chances are that the values which we cherish will be eroded, Malta Labour Party leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

Speaking in Ghaxaq, Dr Sant said that the economic situation of the country was going from bad to worse and the quality of life of many families was being negatively affected.

Purchasing power was being lost as the income for families decreased and education was suffering too because people were not spending as they used to to educate their children.

This problem was not only affecting lower class people but was also hitting the middle class, Dr Sant said.

Elderly people were also suffering. Medicines that used to be given out for free were being changed and the replacements are not as effective, he said. An elderly man had his eye drops changed but the new medication was causing him problems and now he had to buy his previous medicine at Lm10 every time.

The social welfare state had to function with a sense of humanity, mostly towards people with a low income, Dr Sant said.

Malta was at the lower end in social matters when compared to other European Union countries.