The government has refused to release anonymised information on the localities where heat-related deaths occurred during July's extreme heatwave, rejecting a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by political party Momentum, it said in a statement.
In a statement, Momentum said the request sought anonymised data on heat-related deaths and hospital admissions to determine whether there was any correlation between fatalities and localities that experienced prolonged power cuts during the nationwide electricity outages.
On 13 August, the Ministry for Health confirmed that 20 deaths recorded between 20 and 26 July were directly or indirectly related to heat. The period coincided with an intense heatwave and widespread, prolonged power outages that affected thousands of households across Malta.
However, while confirming the number of heat-related deaths, the Ministry did not disclose the localities where the deaths occurred.
Momentum's FOI request, submitted on 27 July, specifically asked for anonymised information identifying the localities from which the deceased were last located before being admitted to hospital, together with data on heat-related hospital admissions.
The party said it was not requesting any personal identifying information.
In a decision dated 21 August, the Department of Health's Chief Medical Officer rejected the request, stating that "the document requested is publicly available or will be published within three months."
The decision informed the applicant that the request "cannot be met" on those grounds and advised that the decision could be challenged through the public authority's complaints procedure and, subsequently, before the Information and Data Protection Commissioner.
Momentum executive member Graziella Spiteri criticised the refusal, arguing that the government was failing to provide transparency about the public health impact of the heatwave.
"Instead of the government playing with words on whether the information is available or not or maybe in the future, the government has a duty to be transparent about the public health impact of the heat and the prolonged power cuts had on its citizens," Spiteri said.
The party said the requested information would help establish whether areas that suffered extended electricity outages also experienced a higher incidence of heat-related deaths and hospital admissions during the heatwave.
In its FOI request, Momentum also sought the daily number of deaths recorded during July 2026, the number of sudden, unexpected or unattended deaths, comparative mortality figures for July in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and any reports or assessments linking deaths to extreme heat.
Separately, Momentum called on the government to provide an update on its promised compensation scheme for households affected by the prolonged power interruptions. The party is asking how many households have received compensation so far and the total amount paid.