Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1080741
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 FEBRUARY 2019 NEWS Recruitment of Casual Substitutes The Ministry for Health is seeking to employ the following Casual Substitutes on a definite basis: Allied Health Professionals (Radiography) Jobsplus Permit Number: 12/2019 Allied Health Professionals (Speech & Language Pathology) Jobsplus Permit Number: 81/2019 Pharmacist Jobsplus Permit Number: 663/2018 Eligible applicants for the Allied Health Professional vacancy (Radiography and Speech and Language Pathology) must be in possession of the registration with the Council for the Professions Complementary to Medicine (CPCM). Eligible applicants for the Pharmacy vacancy must be in possession of the warrant to practice as Pharmacist in Malta. Candidates for all vacancies must be able to communicate in the Maltese and English Languages. A copy of the relevant job description and details of the relevant remuneration package may be obtained from the Resourcing and Employee Relations Directorate (contact details below). Applicants are to submit their application together with a detailed curriculum vitae and a recent (not earlier than one month) Police Certificate of Conduct by not later than Friday, 22 nd February 2019. All applications are to be addressed to the: Director (Resourcing and Employee Relations) 15, Palazzo Castellania, Merchants Street, Valletta, VLT1171, Malta Telephone: 22992600 Email: recruitment.health@gov.mt MINISTRY FOR HEALTH 15, Palazzo Castellania, Merchants Street, Valletta, VLT 1171, Malta Tel: 22992600 Email: recruitment.health@gov.mt JAMES DEBONO SCHOOLS have been advised by med- ical experts to keep windows opened regularly and to introduce mechani- cal ventilation and dehumidification with the aim of decreasing conditions which contribute to allergies in chil- dren. Students in poorly ventilated class- rooms with higher temperatures and humidity are more likely to suffer from allergic rhinitis symptoms (hay fever), according to a study published in the Malta Medical Journal. Increased classroom temperatures and humidity were also associated with increased incidence of allergic conditions in schoolchildren in Malta. One possible reason for this phe- nomenon is that warm or humid class- rooms increase the growth of bacteria and fungi which contribute to these allergies. The study was authored by a cross- disciplinary team consisting of Caro- line Gouder, Stephen Montfort and Peter Fsadni from the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Claudia Fsadni from the Department of Infectious Diseases, and Frank Bezzina from the Faculty of Economics. The study was based on research con- ducted in five primary State schools in Malta, selected randomly from five geographical clusters. These comprised Fgura, Birzebbuga, Pembroke, Qormi and Dingli. Three classrooms within each school were selected with all students being asked to participate. A total number of 237 pupils in all 15 selected classrooms consented to taking part in the study. The study found that 32.98% of all the pupils had wheezing at one time in their life while 17.8% had experienced wheezing in the previous 12 months. Up to 16.8% of all pupils actually had doctor-diagnosed asthma. Hay fever symptoms were present in nearly 34% of the children. 40% complaining of a runny nose and nasal p h l e g m , while half of the pupils complained of a blocked nose. According to international stand- ards, indoor relative humidity levels should ideally range between 30% and 70%. While the average humidity level within local schools falls within this range (62.71%), all three classrooms in Dingli exceeded the 70% threshold. All five schools had a relative indoor hu- midity above the mean of 43% found in schools across Europe. The higher humidity levels detected in Dingli could have reflected meteorological condi- tions as the sampling in this particular case took place in December. Teachers, keep the windows open: Hay fever linked to humid classrooms According to international standards, indoor relative humidity levels should ideally range between 30% and 70%. While the average humidity level within local schools falls within this range (62.71%), all three classrooms in Dingli exceeded the 70% threshold DAVID HUDSON THE Church's Environment Commission has warned that Malta is facing a crisis on construction waste with the prevalent view that land rec- lamation is the way forward for Malta being "highly debat- able." The commission said the problem of construction waste "has grown dispropor- tionately" but decreed that land reclamation was not a solution, and especially that the criteria for the choice of the reclamation site should not be dictated by the com- mercial interests of whoever would like to develop re- claimed land. "The marine biodiversity in our islands should be protect- ed. The sea is a great natural resource and it contributes highly to our economic, envi- ronmental and social wellbe- ing. If we are to treat it as a new dumping site to cover up what we wouldn't like to see, we would once again be de- luding ourselves into thinking that we have found a solu- tion to the problem of exces- sive waste resulting from the unsustainable activity of the building industry," it said. The commission lamented the approval of proposals for huge projects in the inter- est of "irresponsible egotists" who stand to make a lot of money off public land. In the meantime, a long-term plan of sustainable management is still out of sight, it said. The commission described Maghtab, Malta's largest landfill, as a "mountain of construction and excavation waste" and that further con- struction waste from future projects should be a respon- sibility borne by developers themselves. "According to the 'pollut- er pays' principle, the onus should fall on those who for years on end, irrespective of whoever was governing the country at the time, have used unsustainable means of con- struction to generate wealth, sending a great quantity of Maltese stone to the land- fills." It made reference to a claim made by the Malta Develop- ers Association earlier this week that suggested that the demand for waste-dumping space is greater than the sup- ply of available spaces. "We have a clear admission that the current development is anything but sustainable," the commission said, adding that repeated warnings from various sectors have been ig- nored. Church: Land reclamation excuse for unsustainable development COMMENT Saviour Balzan "Why Gozo minister Anton Refalo is a great survivor" Page 21