About Us
The Directorate for Pharmaceutical
Affairs (DPA) holds a challenging and central position within the Maltese
national health system as it strives to work within a tight balance between
safeguarding public health and securing patient access to safe and effective
good quality medicines yet in a manner that is equitable and sustainable.
Mission Statement
The Directorate for
Pharmaceutical Affairs has the mission of developing and implementing equitable
and sustainable Government pharmaceutical policies. It promotes excellence
in patient care through assuring safe, rational and cost-effective use of
medicines.
Objectives
- To draw up policies in order to
safeguard public health, promote equity and sustainability of the government
pharmaceutical sector
- To ensure access to essential medicines
via equitable availability and affordability
- To ensure good quality, safety and efficacy
of all medicines provided by the government health service
- To ensure the rational use of such
medicines via the promotion of the therapeutically sound and cost-effective use
of medicines by health professionals and patients
- To participate in and communicate with
EU networks and initiatives relating to Pharmaceutical Policy in order to
continually improve aspects of pharmaceutical policy in Malta
- To implement EU legislation in the field
of pharmaceutical policy
- To provide supportive technical
information and reports for decision making regarding the inclusion of new
medicines on the government formulary and follow up decisions taken
throughout the lifetime of the product on the formulary
- To contribute to fair pricing of
medicines in the government health services
- To provide access to evidence-based cost-effective
treatment for particular individuals with an exceptional need for treatment
currently not provided by the health service via the government formulary
- To follow up new
expensive approved treatments on the government formulary via medicines use
evaluations aimed at evaluating and improving medication use to achieve optimal
patient outcomes, prevent complications and support pharmaceutical care
Organogram
Contact Us
Address: Directorate for
Pharmaceutical Affairs
209, Administration Building
St Luke's Hospital
G'Mangia
Tel: 2595 5232
Generic E-mail: dpa.health@gov.mt
DPA is Equality Certified by the
National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) for promoting gender
equality values and for the recognition of the potential of all employees
irrespective of their gender and caring responsibilities.
Achievements
The Directorate for Pharmaceutical Affairs
received the award for the services rendered to the pharmacy profession at the
Annual Pharmacy Symposium organised by the Pharmacy Department of the University
of Malta, in March 2017. DPA was commended for the meticulous and
high quality work carried out within the Directorate.
During the past years, DPA collaborated with the Pharmacy Department by encouraging its employees to further their studies, provided training programmes for students required to do work placements as part of their course of studies, and offered guidance to students doing their research projects/thesis in areas related to Government Pharmaceutical Policies.