According to the recently released State of Health in the EU country profile report for 2017, Maltese people spend on average 90 per cent of their lifespan in good health, which is longer than any other EU member state. It went on to state that the average life expectancy of the Maltese was 81.9 years in 2015, up from 78.4 years in 2000.

“In 2016, Malta and Sweden were the two countries with the highest healthy life expectancy among both women and men. In these two countries, women can expect to live more than 85 per cent of their life expectancy free of disability, and this share reaches around 90 per cent for men. Latvia, Estonia and the Slovak Republic had among the lowest healthy life expectancy, reflecting both relatively low life expectancy and a substantial share of life lived with some disability,” the report said - great news for locals!

We’ve got a couple of other things going for us too. “Mortality rates from cancer are lowest in Cyprus, Finland, Malta, Spain and Sweden, with rates at least 10 per cent lower than the EU average.” We’re also among the countries with the lowest suicide rates. Smoking rates have also decreased, especially among teenagers, with Malta being one of the countries with the largest decreases. And finally, breast cancer survival has also increased greatly in Malta.

Another thing is a definite plus: “The increase in the number of nurses per capita has been particularly large in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Malta. Malta has taken a series of measures to train more nurses domestically and also to attract more nurses from other countries to address current shortages. The university degree to become a nurse in Malta is free of charge for students; and once students have graduated, they are also encouraged to take time off to pursue their training while continuing to receive at least part of their salary.” And you know what that means Malta - more nurses = better healthcare!

That's not to say we can't stand to up our game in certain areas! Mental health is one of them. “Targeted prevention or promotion programmes were found in all but four countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Malta and Romania)." It was also reported that Malta’s obesity rate remains the highest in the EU, representing a significant challenge for the public. "On average across EU countries, 16 per cent of adults were obese in 2014, according to data self-reported by people. Obesity rates among adults vary greatly across EU countries, from 9 per cent in Romania to 26 per cent in Malta." The island also has one of the highest obesity rates among 7-8 year olds! Maybe we should cut down on those pastizzi, huh?