Background & Aims
In 2017, the European SIP symposium "Structured Cooperation between Health Care Systems tackling the Societal Impact of Pain" took place under the auspice of the agenda of the 2017 Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU. On this occasion of the first national SIP platform in Malta has started its work.
Methods
Representatives from the Maltese European Parliaments' office, Members of Health Service providers, Professionals, Patients & citizens agreed to work together to address the common theme of pain as SIP Malta was initiated into 2016 to build a coalition of national SIP allies and to identify the gaps and needs, how to improve pain and management in Malta.
Results
SIP Malta co-hosted the SIP 2017 Symposium and presented a Maltese Consensus paper. This was followed by a research project on the Impact of Chronic Pain in Malta. Results were presented at a Conference in 2018 which led to a position paper on Chronic Pain for further policy work. 
Conclusion
SIP Malta is a great example of how to build a coalition of relevant stakeholders and to advocate for better management of pain to national policy makers. Next step is to create a National Pain Plan and to contribute to the National Health Strategy 2030. That means pain featuring across various sectors from prevention to health at the workplace, access to adequate treatment in a timely manner and further training and awareness among general public, patients and professionals.

SOCIETAL IMPACT OF PAIN (SIP) - EXPERIENCES FROM A SIP NATIONAL PLATFORM IN MALTA