Families and businesses today are not demanding extraordinary things from those entrusted with the duty to lead the nation forward.
The southeast of Malta has been a focus for scientific medical studies because of pointers showing it is an area of potential health concern- Owen Bonnici
They want respect for human rights and justice, new opportunities and decent jobs, affordable healthcare and energy access within a framework that respects nature and the environment.
There are regions in our country – a case in point is the southeast of Malta – where it seems families and businesses have to work harder than anyone else to make it. Studies show levels of poverty, education and health in southeast are below levels in other regions, and below par.
Poverty and health are directly related and intertwined: the poorer a person is, the less healthy he is. The less healthy he is, the less he can work, the less he can educate himself and the more he moves into poverty.
The southeast has been a focus for scientific medical studies because of pointers showing it is an area of potential health concern.
Let’s take obesity, for instance – the epidemic of the 21st century. The Food Consumption Survey of 2010 carried out by the Malta Standards Authority shows that according to the Body Mass Index (BMI), Maltese men are the fattest and Maltese women are the third fattest in Europe.
When the national data is analysed according to region, the average BMI in the southeast is the highest – 28.124 kg/m² and the second highest average BMI is from the region south of the harbour Area – 27.966 kg/m².
The same thing applies to emissions from fossil fuels. Successive ambient air quality assessments have shown trends in emissions of particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide that substantiated the decision to locate two out of four national fixed air monitoring stations in the southeast region – Kordin and Żejtun.
Particulates are a prime health concern. The respiratory effects on people with asthma and with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease have been well studied and well-documented. Hence, the decision taken by the government to run the Delimara power station extension on the more polluting Heavy Fuel Oil rather than on the less polluting gas will go down in history as one of the worst ever taken.
Delimara is only a few miles away from the Marsa power station, which itself has been the subject of an intensive study from the public health perspective. A descriptive study in 2002 by Thelma Cuschieri, which looked at how adjusted congenital anomaly rates vary with distance from the Marsa power station showed a higher frequency of foetal deaths among babies with anomalies in the first and second zones, one and two kilometres around the Marsa plant.
Another descriptive study in 2005 by Victor Calvagna showed a statistically significant change in the rate of lung cancer with increasing distance from the Marsa power station. The relative risk is greatest at the point source and remains significantly raised for a distance of two kilometres from the power station.
Similarly, scientific data on the prevalence of asthma in Malta had been well documented over the years, especially in children, and it shows that the percentage of children diagnosed with asthma rose considerably over the years in all the regions.
But 10 years ago, the respiratory health of citizens in southeast Malta had attracted attention due to extraordinary and rising admission rates for people with asthma from villages and towns in the area.
A study called European Community Respiratory Health Survey 2001 by Martin Balzan and Jason Bonnici showed that the adult residents of Fgura and Żejtun had among the highest rates in the world for symptoms of asthma and nasal allergies.
The second part of the study in Fgura and Żejtun established that living close to a main traffic artery increases the risk of asthma related symptoms.
In fact, three areas within 250 metres of the main traffic artery showed higher levels of asthma-related symptoms when compared with the area which was 250 to 500 metres away from the main traffic artery.
The fact that healthcare professionals have measured aspects of health in people of the southeast region and collected their scientific conclusions is, in itself, witness to the concern that is being felt among those who are in a position to ring the alarm bell.
The government must respond successfully to what healthcare professionals are telling us about the standard of public health in the southeast region of the country.
Decision-makers from across the environmental, social and economic divides must come together, reflect on collected data and measurements, take informed decisions and create the future we all want.
An apple a day, unfortunately, won’t solve the public health challenges that the families and businesses living in the southeast region are facing.
Owen Bonnici is Labour spokesman for Higher Education, University, Research and Culture.