Malta has recently made great strides in the development of health services for transgender persons. A Government document on Transgender Healthcare Services launched in 2018 is one of the first of its kind in Europe and presents the policy direction and way forward for the development of transgender inclusive healthcare services in Malta. The aim of these services are to enable transgender persons to change their physical appearance to align this better with their felt gender identity. The vision was to develop a trans-inclusive health care system and to organise gender affirmative care for transgender persons using a person-centred approach that tends to the physical, mental and social aspects of care of the individual while respecting the person’s gender identity.
Care is provided by means of a specialised multidisciplinary team of professionals comprising endocrinologists, surgeons, mental health professionals, social workers, speech and language pathologists and a nurse coordinator- to enable transgender persons to transition in a supportive and evidence-based environment. Transgender persons comprise a marginalised group with a significant burden of adverse health outcomes including serious mental health illness, STIs and drug abuse. They often avoid seeking health care due to the negative viewpoint by which this population is perceived. This policy details the services that are offered as part of the national health system through the Gender Wellbeing Clinic.
More detail as regards the government policy and services offered can be found below: https://deputyprimeminister.gov.mt/en/Documents/National-Health-Strategies/Transgender%20Healthcare.pdf