The cause of death

The Times' headlines of October 2 were spine-chilling: "Inadequate hospital space for cancer patients". The upshot of the report by George Cini is that there is little hope for improvement in the near future, even after the gigantic Mater Dei eventually opens its doors! This news combined with the rather pathetic results of the Car Free Day of September 22 made me wonder at how we do not seem to be putting two and two together insofar as how much pollution may be responsible for the escalating incidence of the dreaded disease that is today referred to as the Big "C".

When, just over a year ago, I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic, my natural reaction was of course one of shock and disbelief. I was soon brought to my senses when I was told in no uncertain terms that I should count myself lucky as it could have been the "you know what!" Such is the frequency of the Big "C" disease that I seriously doubt whether I know anyone whose family has not been affected by it!

Although I still smoke against my doctors' advice, I am quite sure that I am more in danger of being killed by the exhaust fumes that I breathe when taking my early morning constitutional along the Front! I always notice the smell much more whenever I return from some trip abroad. After a couple of days I become immune to it. It is most ironical that the de rigeur brisk walk that keeps my sugar levels in order should also be the risk factor that could possibly spell disaster!

Now, like the rest of Europe, the causa mortis notices on the cigarette packets are to be starker than ever. Barring a skull and crossbones, do we really feel convinced that we have done our bit to reduce the disease? Very funny! Strangely enough, out of the people I knew and loved and whom I have lost to cancer over the last 10 years, and believe me there have been far too many, only one smoked and her particular cancer was not lung related!

I have been told that, from research carried out, Malta is one of the most polluted areas in Europe. There is hardly any difference in contamination levels between the Sliema Front, Marsa and Mtahleb! This is because of the fact that we are a windy island and contrary to popular belief the air is not blown away to Timbuktu but is circulated and recirculated, becoming more and more contaminated in the process.

I often smell the fragrance of Mt Maghtab all the way from St Julian's and my nose is not a particularly sensitive one! When I worked at HSBC Hexagon House, in Marsa, the smells in the place were tremendous and unbearable. They invaded the airconditioning units and special air filters had to be installed in each office primarily to make the air breathable!

Enough about the air and let us take a look at what we consume every day. I am fed with horror stories about the amount of insecticide showered on our vegetables by our farmers... vegetables which, incidentally, grow in soil that has been peppered and spiced up by generations and generations of hunters shooting lead pellets in the air in the vain hope of bagging a stork or a cormorant! Not to mention being watered by sources that are questionable! To complete this most vicious circle, the fodder given to our livestock is similarly tainted and therefore the milk and eggs produced, let alone the meat, must logically be contaminated too!

This brings us to the sea, which is becoming more and more unsafe, not because of great white sharks and the dreaded purple jellyfish, but because of its contamination. Even faraway Gnejna is unsafe! Our drainage disposal is, I am told, superannuated, and the poor deceptively sparkling sapphire of the Mediterranean that surrounds us and is our greatest asset is also under the risk of becoming a large cesspool!

All that, combined with the Chernobyl explosion about 20 years ago, seems to be a rather deadly recipe for illness rivalling that of the witches in Macbeth! Can one still be surprised when once again the Big "C" strikes? I could stop smoking I suppose, however, it appears that I am still as much at risk should I either decide to have a swim, go for a walk or enjoy a salad!

Where do we go from here? From time to time we are regaled with incomprehensible reports about contamination and when it is really unsustainable we are informed that we should not swim in such and such a place. Are we literally drowning in our own excretions? Dust from the building sites has made the air ever more dangerous and asthma is on the increase too! What has been done to address the situation?

The Car Free Day report said that carbon monoxide levels on the day were just as high as usual before the deadline. In other words, people who had to use their car did so anyway and simply woke up earlier! So what was Car Free Day all about? An inconvenient PR exercise to continue fooling ourselves more than we are doing already? Will any medical organisation take the bull by the horns and publish statistics, which all circumstances seem to indicate that pollution-related illness is on the sharp increase?

It is not enough to sit back and expect a powerless government to do something about it! Unless proper legislation is enforced and we know full well that in Malta it is not, there can be no solution to this ecological disaster about to erupt! Are we simply waiting for the EU to tell us what to do and how to do it? We, the citizens of Malta, are as much to blame. Can we live without our cars, our airconditioners, our aerosols, our plastic packaging etc?

I recently bought a liquid shower soap of Italian extraction. On it is a notice saying non disperdere nell'ambiente dopo l'uso. I am at a total loss about what to do with this container after it finishes. Can anyone enlighten me?