MEP Alex Agius Saliba is pressuring the European Commission to ensure the small Member States, such as Malta and their citizens, have access to affordable pharmaceutical products, especially during the COVID pandemic.

With an urgent question to the European Commission and a cross-party Parliament's letter, the Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba urged the Commission to ensure that the supply of affordable medicine across the EU is genuinely provided to all Member States and their EU citizens, including Malta. 

MEP Agius Saliba said that the current EU rules create unfair discrimination against the Member States with smaller health systems and pharmaceutical markets, such as Malta. He added that as things stand, the decision to effectively place a product on the Member States' markets is solely based on the pharmaceutical companies' commercial and economic interests.

"Often, these private companies have no interest or incentives to place a medicinal product on the market of small Member States, such as Malta. This situation creates difficult access to affordable medicines for Maltese patients, higher prices for pharmaceutical products, and often even the withdrawal of particular products" said the MEP.

Agius Saliba went on to explain that for these reasons, Malta has been heavily reliant upon the supply of medicinesfrom or through Great Britain. He added that unfortunately, with the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union, Malta and the Member States in a similar situation will face an immediate problem of access and shortages to pharmaceutical and medicinal products.

"Maltese patients should not be deprived of medicinal products especially in the middle of a health and pandemic crisis. If a product is authorised in the Single Market, it should be available in all Member States and the Maltese citizens should not be deprived or refused access to medicinal products. That is why I have asked the European Commission to intervene and ensure that public interests are safeguarded, and purely economic interests do not drive access to medicine." said MEP Agius Saliba.

In conclusion, MEP Alex Agius Saliba said that everyone should have the right to timely access to affordable, preventive, and curative health care of good quality, butunfortunately, this cannot be guaranteed today in the EU.