An inter-ministerial committee and a clinical task force on diabetes have been set up by virtue of the newly enacted diabetes law and will start meeting in the coming weeks, Health Minister Chris Fearne said today.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Robert Cutajar, who had presented the law as a Private Members Bill.

Mr Fearne said that, along with dementia, diabetes was a major concern. A recent study found that 41% of schoolchildren are obese or overweight.

The inter-ministerial committee has been appointed and is led by Dr Charmaine Gauci. A number of representatives from different ministries sit on the committee.

The clinical taskforce, led by Professor Victor Grech, has also been appointed. Its aim is to give clinical recommendations on how to tackle the obesity issue. The Health Minister said the taskforce will hold its first meeting in the coming days and Mr Cutajar will be invited to attend.

The government, he said, believed that the obesity issue had to be tackled through healthy lifestyles, not prescription medicines. The aim was also to encourage people to opt for a healthy Mediterranean diet. 

Mr Cutajar said he hoped no time would be wasted and the committees would get to it.

He also complained that a number of elderly people had been turned away from a healthy lifestyle project because their weight was deemed to be acceptable.

Mr Fearne said there was no reason for people with normal weight to attend weight loss programmes.

He explained that that apart from the weight loss programme there was also the Healthy Lifestyle programme, which provided lifestyle advice from several health clinics. Everyone was invited to take part, he said.