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Malta

Home » Countries » Malta
Current Health Expenditure (CHE) as % Gross Domestic Product (GDP)9.5%CHE/GDP
Out-of-pocket (OOPS) spending as % of Current Health Expenditure (CHE)30%OOP/CHE
Domestic General Government Health Expenditure (GGHE-D) as % General Government Expenditure (GGE)16.2%GGHE-D/GGE
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in constant (2020) US$ in millions (M), billions (B), or trillions (T)18BGDP (USD)
Population in thousands (K), millions (M) or billions (B)521KPopulation
Self-reported unmet need for medical care by sex (Total)0.1%Unmet Needs - Total
Self-reported unmet need for medical care by sex (Female)0.1%Unmet Needs - Female
Self-reported unmet need for medical care by sex (Male)0.1%Unmet Needs - Male
According to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies’ report, Malta: Health System Summary, 2024, Malta’s health care system is a tax-based system that offers universal coverage with a broad range of services that are free at the point of use. Maltese citizens and residents (including immigrants, asylum seekers and foreign workers with regular work permits) are guaranteed health coverage under the country’s social security legislation. The system is mixed, with the private sector playing a complementary role in service provision.[1]

Malta: Health System Summary, 2024 also explains that the Ministry for Health and Active Ageing is the main actor responsible for the governance, regulation, planning, provision and standards of health services. The National Health Systems Strategy 2023–2030, along with other national public health strategies, provides direction and set priorities in relation to population needs. Recent political changes have led to the extension of the strategy to 2033, wherein Malta will focus on the modernization and expansion of secondary and tertiary health infrastructure.[2]

According to the Global Health Expenditure Database, in 2022, current health expenditure per capita in Malta was US$ 3353, representing 9.5% of GDP. Health expenditure from public sources accounted for 67% of health spending while out-of-pocket (OOP) spending accounted for 30% and voluntary health insurance for 3%. High OOP spending is largely driven by spending on private primary and outpatient specialist care and on medicines. Despite relatively high OOP payments, Malta records one of the lowest levels of unmet needs for medical care.[3]

Malta is experiencing a rising incidence of communicable (HIV and other sexually transmitted infections) and noncommunicable diseases (prostate cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, type 1 diabetes (in children), hypertension and elevated cholesterol). Despite the high and increasing incidence, Malta has registered significant improvements in the five-year survival rates for several cancers.
Malta: Health System Summary, 2024 further remarks that the country has made notable strides in health outcomes, with high life expectancy, low preventable mortality rates and strong political commitment to addressing issues like obesity and alcohol-related harm, but challenges persist. According to the summary, Malta needs to devise strategies for expanding capacity to meet growing demands, integrating care and ensuring financial sustainability and efficiency to adapt to an increasingly diverse population.[2]

References

[1] Azzopardi-Muscat N, Buttigieg S, Calleja N, Merkur S, Forman R, Mauer N, Bezzina A, Grech K, Vincenti K. Malta: Health System Summary, 2024. Copenhagen: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

[2] Azzopardi-Muscat, Malta

[3] World Health Organization, Global Health Expenditure Database, Indicators and Data (choose country)

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