Ten years is a long time to wait for any government to implement any policy but when such procrastination comes at the expense of the quality of life of 35 per cent of the population it governs, foot-dragging becomes wholly unacceptable.

But 10 years is exactly how long the Malta Chamber of Pharmacists and the Chamber for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises have been in talks with the authorities over the setting up of a so-called “pharmacy of your choice” scheme.

Put simply, the scheme would allow patients with special medicinal needs, as well as those entitled to free medicines, to be able to drop by their local pharmacy to have their prescriptions filled.

As matters currently stand, and as they have stood for too long now, such individuals needing to collect the free medicinals to which they are entitled have to commute to one of the handful of government pharmacies sprinkled across the islands – in many instances a lengthy, arduous journey made by tens of thousands of Maltese and Gozitan patients every month.

A patient from Mellieha needs to travel all the way to Mosta, for example, while Gozitans have to commute to Victoria simply to have their medicines dispensed.

Today’s system holds a number of inherent shortcomings.

For starters, the practice deprives patients of the added value of having a one-on-one relationship with their pharmacists, given the way in which government pharmaceuticals are dispensed at the moment.

Moreover, considering the fact that a large percentage of such individuals are either elderly or physically or economically disadvantaged, the system is even more onerous and taxing – necessitating the organisation of transport from friends or relatives, or, alternatively, long voyages on public transport.

This amounts to added stress, not to mention exposure to the elements such as the rain, cold and heat, for people already suffering from poor health. Looking at the bigger picture, not only do such unnecessary hardships cause unwarranted suffering for patients, but they also lengthen the road to recovery – meaning an even larger pharmaceutical bill to be paid from the government’s coffers.

Medicines are not a luxury and one cannot, on a stormy or extremely hot day, simply postpone their collection until more amenable weather comes along.

Irrespective of a patient’s means of arrival at a government pharmacy, once there they endure lengthy waits as staff grapple with long queues.

All this amounts to hundreds of thousands of hours of needless turmoil suffered by some 140,000 Maltese and Gozitans holding yellow and pink health benefit cards, according to figures given by the chambers last week.

The community pharmacy system is in place in countries across the European Union and is considered a cornerstone of public health systems. Malta should not be any different.

And while the chambers appear prepared to implement such a community pharmacy scheme, they argue the government has been dillydallying for the sake of an estimated annual bill of Lm1 million, which pales in significance against its yearly budgetary expenditure.

The chambers insist pharmacies are not looking to profit from the exercise and would welcome an independent audit of the estimated costs. The government has been given various implementation options but any such scheme, they argue, would inevitably limit healthcare system abuse while cost savings in a number of areas would offset any expenditure.

Clearly vexed that the scheme has been bypassed budget after budget, despite lobbying and talks stretching as far back as the last Labour administration, the chambers, rightly so, have called on the people to make their voices heard, and to demand action on what is essentially a public issue of significant importance.

The chambers last week went public with their frustration after more than a decade of dead-end talks and have thrown the gauntlet at the government’s feet.

Let us hope it is picked up.