Dr Hans Kluge, the Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organisation, who visited Malta in October, has praised Malta for the measures it has taken which he has described as timely, to curb the spread of Covid-19.
In a Twitter post, Kluge praised the work of Deputy PM and Health Minister Chris Fearne for the preventive measures taken in Malta.
He said that measures need to be taken as Europe is seeing another spike in Covid-19 cases.
In October, Dr Kluge expressed his immense satisfaction with the progress that Malta has made in lowering treatable and preventable mortality. He also praised the efforts being made in the areas of mental health and primary care. He commended the proactive approach being taken to address health equity, support the health workforce and exploit innovation to achieve better value in health systems. He praised the work being carried out by Minister Fearne to place the issue of price transparency of medicines on the European agenda, an issue which is important to WHO in terms of extending Universal Health Coverage.
The Biennial Collaborative Agreement between WHO and Malta for the period 2020-2021 foresees further work in the areas of mental health, health workforce, prevention and quality/safety of health care.