Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced that the life-saving medication needed to help Cystic Fibrosis patients will finally be added to the government formulary.

This comes following pleas made by 26-year-old Mandy Vella who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis.

She had explained that the medicine she needed to save her life and the lives of all those Maltese who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis was being neglected.

During a virtual meeting with Vella on Friday, Abela explained that, after discussions he had with Health Minister Chris Fearne as well as Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, there will be enough funds allocated for this process to begin.

“I have also insisted that this process is to start immediately so that the medicine can be bought and provided to Cystic Fibrosis patients,” he said.

Abela added that, “this is not a process that can occur overnight, but I will promise you that we will try our best to be as fast as possible.”

Mandy Vella welcomed this news and thanked the PM.

Abela replied by saying that she does not have to thank him because this is “an obligation of the government to help” and added that “she and people like her will not be left alone.”

He encouraged Mandy and others who might be going through the same thing and promised to keep in touch with her in order to inform her of the dates of when the medicine will be made available to people with Cystic Fibrosis.

“You have my word that the medicine will be given to you,” he said.

Vella first brought up the lack of Cystic Fibrosis medication in Malta back in 2018, when she insisted that the medication be imported and supplied by health authorities once it was approved by the European Union (EU). Two years later, in August 2020, the medication was approved by both the EU and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.