The Malta Labour Party (MLP) agrees that the Maltese health system should be sustainable, yet services should be provided for free, Labour leader Alfred Sant said this week.

He was speaking during a meeting with the health care trade section of the chamber of commerce to discuss the party’s draft plan Poplu b’Sahhtu, Pajjiz b’Sahhtu.

The health care trade section of the chamber of commerce spokesman Reginald Fava was quoted as saying that in the present state, the Maltese National Health Service was not sustainable. He said that gone were the days when government paid for every service, and those who were able to pay should do so. He said that the MLP should include this point in its draft document.

Dr Sant reaffirmed the importance of providing the services for free in order to prevent any class conflicts.

However, he said, the MLP believed that the service needed gradual change within a good management system. To this end, he said that pension reform should not be implemented in isolation but as part of a programme that would ensure the sustainability of the health sector and social services.