The real doctors I know in Malta are concerned about the growing number of heterosexuals who have Aids. There are various reasons for this, but one phenomenon that could turn a worrying trend into a national health disaster is the arrival of so many people illegally, not all of whom are black or male, the stereotype of the illegal immigrant, but who come from countries where the Aids rate is apparently, in some cases, much higher than ours. These countries include Arab States, sub Saharan African States as well as some East European States where the HIV infection rate is not negligible either, though we are behaving as though it is!
And please do not e-mail me implying I don’t like East Europeans, blacks, or Arabs, because I can count all these among my friends, past, present and hopefully future; all of them would agree with my concerns, and not remotely consider them racist!
The real doctors I know are concerned that they and other staff are coming into contact with other diseases or viruses that had long been eradicated, or that did not exist here previously, or at least not much. The real doctors I know told me that if one extrapolates, say the Aids or HIV positive rate from certain immigrant groups (from certain African countries where the Aids rate is so high it is a national calamity) who go to hospital, the infection rate among illegal immigrants in Malta may be as high as 20 per cent. I don’t have figures for the rates for other infections which are just as worrying.
The real doctors I know are concerned about the very low levels of protection being afforded to the frontline staff who have to deal with such problems (none of whom are the spin doctors that write to newspapers, but who write to me privately to express their worries).
I always thought we were mum about this problem because of religious scruples. But we are mum apparently, or so a real doctor told me, because we do not want to have to treat them. For those who don’t know, Aids/HIV medication is prohibitively expensive, and if we started testing all those who arrive illegally, we are not sure we could afford the treatment. So we do not test, our front line staff takes the risk, and on we go like ostriches.
Worse still, some of these immigrants will become or get the status of genuine refugees, so they can go on to have relationships with women of any nationality, infect them, infect potential children. The scenario is worrying, and it is highly irresponsible of certain doctors to spin what they are spinning. Do you know what their spin consists of?
The race card!
Anyone who suggests that all those who come into Malta illegally, especially from countries with a very high HIV/Aids rate, should be tested for any infectious diseases is labelled as a rabble rousing racist and worse. I wonder how many of these spin doctors would be happy if their son or daughter was handling these patients, without the proper barrier nursing or protective medication, without knowing what infectious diseases they had. I wonder how many of them would welcome them into the family as potential sons- or daughters-in-laws without a blood test if they were planning to have a sexual relationship and have children.
Listen spin doctors. Forty-seven countries including the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand require a health check on arrival particularly from immigrants from certain countries. It is common sense not racism. It is prudent, not rabble rousing to do so. And I am sure all the black, as well as the white or brown or whatever colour staff working in health services all over the developed world, would want these health checks if they are going to nurse patients with infectious diseases they do not know about, wouldn’t you?
There are 40 million people worldwide who suffer from this cruellest of diseases called HIV positive that develops into full-blown Aids.
And yet, when did our spin-doctors become proactive over a national health threat?
Last winter when there was the avian flu scare, which is still a worry. How many millions are dying from avian flu? Not even 100 people I believe. My brother, who runs the neonatal department of a children’s hospital in Europe, opened my eyes to all this last winter. When he was here and saw the government stockpiling, and so many private individuals being encouraged to buy a drug that is no real help against avian flu, which is not really an epidemic, he was bemused. When it mutates into humans they will have to develop the right drug and that is when the government must buy it, not before. Certainly his hospital didn’t and neither did he privately, because in his words “it would be useless”.
As more birds die of this disease this winter one expert wrote, “In some parts of the world we did not do what should have been done, and that’s to fight the disease in birds.” Now there is common sense and not spin. Treat the birds so it won’t or will be much less likely to mutate into a form that will kill us, instead of making us feel uncomfortable for a week or so, which is what the usual flu normally does, although it could be a killer for the weak and elderly
Public health risks. Will the real doctors please stand up and protect the real threats to public health.