With asthma being the most common chronic condition in the world, Malta currently places worst among Mediterranean countries, third worst in Europe and in the worst 25 all over the world as a percentage of population of asthma sufferers, Dr Stephen Montfort said yesterday.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the Malta Asthmatic Society (Sam) to commemorate World Asthma Day, Dr Montfort said that there were some encouraging signs however as children who suffer strong asthma attacks and who are admitted to the Casualty Department have gone down to 13 per cent in 2001 from 22 per cent in 1994.
Dr Montfort also identified what he termed as “unmet needs” for tackling the problem of asthma and these are: better diagnosis rates, better treatment, more education on the condition and a better environmental health environment. He said that although asthma is still a common occurrence, it seems like the levels of the disease have reached a plateau and that a high percentage of sufferers does not mean high mortality rates.
Parliamentary Secretary Helen D’Amato said that it is a fact that respiratory problems have doubled in the past years with children aged 5-8 suffering from such problems increasing from 7.5 per cent in 1994 to 14.8 per cent in 2001. She said that more research on the occurrence of the problem is needed and that more also needs to be done to minimise the effects of low air quality, especially with regard to fumes and dust.
Ms D’Amato said that the law prohibiting smoking in closed environments was a huge step forward to enable asthma sufferers to lead lives which are as normal as possible.
She said that the results from the Cross National Health Study in schools showed that 24.7 per cent of children up to the age of 15 did not attempt to smoke in 2002, up from 19.1 per cent in 2000. Ms D’Amato saw this as being another positive step.
She said that sterling work was being carried out by the Health Promotion Unit, adding that an Environmental Health Unit study in 16 schools showed that although some had better air quality levels than others, none was above the established World Health Organisation guidelines.
Ms D’Amato said that the introduction of low sulphur fuel oil led to a decrease in pollution levels and that Malta was working to conform with the Air Quality Framework Directive to take action against the elimination of pollutants.
She added that other ministries should also do their bit to reduce pollution levels as much as possible.
Opposition spokesperson on health, Michael Farrugia said that there are many people who are still ignorant on the conditions suffered by asthma patients. He said that occasionally it is true that doctors do not diagnose the condition immediately, but a lot of progress has been made in this regard.
Dr Farrugia said that anti-smoking legislation was having the desired effects although we are still faced by massive pollution problems such as smoke emanating from chimneys and dust from construction activities. Commenting on medicine registration, he said that the current scenario reduced the choice of inhalers on the market and this was creating a problem for asthma sufferers.
Sam Chairperson Dr Anna Mallia said that Malta currently places 11th on the world list with regard to deaths connected to asthma. She also revealed that eight per cent of the Maltese population are asthma sufferers.