I don’t know what freaked me out more reading an interview with Dr Philip Carabot, who heads the unit that helps deal with the very alarming rise in sexually transmitted diseases locally. The sexual behaviour of some, or many Maltese youngsters, or the crass cruelty and unadulterated ignorance of some Maltese mothers? Actually the latter win hands down. Let me just quote him because what he said borders on the incredible.
“I’ve seen an alarming number of cases when young girls, aged 13 or 14, are accompanied to the clinic by their mothers who know they are having sex with an older boyfriend, often in his late 20s. And the mother’s concern is that the daughter has not yet become pregnant! They actually ask: What’s wrong with my daughter and can you test her for fertility?”
I wonder how we can be shocked at the huge rise in teenage pregnancies in this supposedly all-Catholic, anti-divorce, anti-abortion nation, when such a mentality persists among those who are probably themselves young mothers, possibly still in their 20s or in their 30s, already desperate to get their daughters hitched, and pregnancy seen as the only way to do it.
I encountered this kind of culture many moons ago when working in Brixton, at least the culture of getting pregnant a few times before settling down, and thought it was amazing, coming fresh from a Malta where teenage pregnancies happened but were hardly mainstream as they undoubtedly are now. How on earth have we in Malta managed to go backwards so fast instead of forwards in this area? The doctor leading this unit admitted there are no easy answers. Preaching abstinence only doesn’t work, but neither does handing out condoms for breakfast, although I think the latter saves more lives.
The interview was full of more alarming statistics. We’re not talking about sex not being associated with love or serious relationships, or only with marriage which very few practice or preach today. We are talking of a whole generation where casual sex is the norm, with 50 per cent at least admitting to it and 75-80 per cent also admitting to not using a condom. When you read this stuff you realise how incredibly stupid the Church schools were in not even allowing our kids to be interviewed about their sexual practices. Our children are having sex and quite a lot of it.
The harm will be done more to girls than to boys, sadly if you think about it. It’s not just Aids or sexually transmitted diseases that are scary. So many girls don’t know that many very promiscuous girls will end up unable to conceive, will end up having cervical cancer because in a roundabout way you actually get that cancer from your partners, so the more promiscuous you or even your partner is or was, the more danger for girls.
Luckily there is now a jab which you can give to girls under the age of 12 to prevent them getting cervical cancer. I just hope the Church and the powers that be in this country choose girls’ and women’s lives over their sad form of reality, because no doubt they will claim it will increase promiscuity. Promiscuity is here and is here to stay by the looks of things. We have to save the lives of a generation brought up with very different influences to what we had, and I hope the health minister funds this vaccine, as he (hopefully a she next time!) should fund national screening for breast and cervical cancer, but is still so asleep on basic health measures that concern women, despite the fact that we are lucky to have a hospital gynae service, as well as the medics and nurses who are first class.
On to Cabinets. I was pleased to read Gordon Brown, the next British PM is considering using bright people from other political parties while forming his new government. Would that we could do this here?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have some of the best of Labour replacing some Nationalist ministers? Gavin Gulia instead of Tonio Borg for example? Or people out of politics – non-lawyers please – contributing to this country’s future in some governmental form? Bernie Mizzi who runs, many reds and blues know, Malta’s best primary school at Chiswick, and has spent a lifetime devoting herself to creating an education system people want to pay for.
And why not have Karmenu Vella contributing in tourism? We can’t be seriously considering the ex-PRO of the PM to be the CEO of the MTA can we?
We have few excellent people in every area and we have to bring everyone in. Harry Vassallo who should have an environment portfolio, or perhaps even a high-powered Mepa post heading the environment side of things. Mind you, we need a lot of transfusions in this clique-infested country. Josie Muscat needs a few capable Marlene Mizzi-type women in his fold too, although I know her politics is much more intelligent than Josie’s, but she would probably, to go back to the breakfast theme, eat him, Anglu et al for breakfast!
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