Malta Government has invested one million euro from the Social and National Development fund, to buy modern equipment for treatment of heart disease, financed by the citizenship investment programme (IIP).
Surgeons and nurses at the Cardiology Department of Mater Dei Hospital will be able to carry out interventions and more complex and delicate procedures on patients with added arteries or other complications, with the assistance of a more modern equipment in the Cardiac Catheterisation Suite, with an investment of a million euro from the Social and National Development fund, financed by the citizenship investment programme.
The department’s chairperson. Dr Robert Xuereb, said that the technology will permit doctors to see and analyze veins or arteries with better precision without the need of major surgeries, however with the use of a millimetre tube which is inserted mostly through the thigh. Dr Xuereb added that the equipment will lead to significant improvement in the quality of treatment given to patients with heart disease. He recalled that this type of disease is the major cause of deaths in Malta, with an estimated 38% of deaths in the Maltese islands related to heart disease.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, said that every Government worked in favour of health, however he stated that the Government’s expenditure in the health sector increased from €381m in 2012 to €781 million in the 2019 Budget. Dr Muscat said that the Government will constantly continue with this type of investment and sees how the economic wealth is of benefit mostly to those in need, including patients and vulnerable persons.
Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Fearne, stated that the equipment at the Cardiology Department will further assist Malta to remain in top place in Europe where Maltese citizens live a longer healthy life. He said that the Government invested millions of euro in new equipment and training to cardiology workers and today the service is the best in the world.
About Cardiac Cath Lab
A cardiac catheterization lab, also known as a “cardiac cath lab,” is a special hospital room where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. The procedures performed in a cardiac cath lab almost always involve tiny, flexible tubes, called catheters, which can be use instead of surgery, to access the heart and blood vessels. A cath lab has special imaging equipment used to see the arteries and check how well blood is flowing to and from the heart. This information helps the care team to diagnose and treat blockages and other problems in the arteries.
Top death causes in Malta
Source: TVM Malta