His father, Niccolò, was one of the first Maltese doctors to read pathology and surgery in the United Kingdom, and served as a District Medical Officer in various parts of Gozo.

[citation needed] Tabone's childhood was deeply affected by the sudden death of his father in 1922 at the age of 59.

In the early days of the War, he narrowly escaped tragedy when a bomb fell at Fort Saint Elmo, demolishing a substantial part of the army barracks to which he had been posted.

He helped launch similar campaigns in Taiwan, Indonesia and Iraq under the auspices of the World Health Organization, and subsequently served as a member and consultant of the WHO's International Panel of Trachoma Experts.

[citation needed] He served on the Council of the University of Malta, and between 1957 and 1960 he was a faculty member of the Board of Medicine, and a lecturer in Clinical Ophthalmology in the Department of Surgery.

In 1968, Tabone brought a motion before the United Nations calling for an action plan in regard to the world's ageing population.