Death

Last week I was asked to moderate a conference organized by the National Cancer Platform.  It was a very well-organised conference with some exquisite presentations.  One presentation that hit close to home was delivered by Dr. Jurgen Abela who is part of the medical team at Hospice Malta.  Hospice Malta, quoting from its mission statement, ‘exists to provide and promote the highest standards of Palliative care for persons with cancer, motor neurone disease, end of life respiratory, cardiac, renal and liver disease.’  What impressed me most from what Dr Abela said is that there is a dire need to discuss ‘death’, still very much a taboo subject on so many fronts.  Let’s face it, it is that one life experience that will most certainly touch all of us, whether we want to admit or not. This subject needs to be at the forefront both in our formal and non-formal education.

Delia

There is no courteous way to say this. Delia must go. If there isn’t one already happening behind the scenes, a leadership succession plan needs to come into effect. At a stage when the PN should at least be head-to-head following the misdemeanors of the Muscat Government and the dicey decisions that had been taken on a number of matters, I don’t know what else can rock the boat. The PN should as a minimum be gaining some percentage points. Instead we have a political party that is going up in smoke. Hope rests in giving this Party a completely different twist, reinventing it from the bottom up and this may be done by looking closely at Claudio Grech’s ‘Fusion’ plan as a start and then implementing the much needed changes. 

Mater Dei Hospital

During my radio show on Radju Malta, Ghandi xi Nghid I had Ms Celia Falzon on the panel, the designate CEO at Mater Dei Hospital.  Amongst the remarkable things she said about Mater Dei Hospital and the complexity in managing this mega-organisation, she mentioned that this Institution has a head count of circa 7,000 people.  Ms Falzon also said, in no uncertain way, that were it not for the numerous foreign workers, there is no way Mater Dei can keep up with its operations. Prof. Charmaine Gauci, the Superintendent of Public Health, who was also on the panel, said that foreigners who work at Mater Dei need to have the right qualifications to work within the system. 

Motorbike fatalities

Yet another road traffic accident involving a motorcycle driver. It has become such a normalized occurrence to hear about people dying.  I believe that it is already late but we really need to study why is it that so many people are dying. Is it the quality of our tarmac, the lack of discipline of our drivers, the bad lighting?  Whatever it is, it really needs to be explored and investigated.

Gender-based violence

And yet again a woman is attacked mercilessly, stabbed five times in the back, allegedly by her former partner and has now lost her life. The violence on women is not abating.  The statistics are still indicating a worrying trend that needs to be tackled without delay.