Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1407680
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 SEPTEMBER 2021 OPINION Alex Agius Saliba CFS and FM patients: their rights and needs IN a society such as ours which is always on the go, it is normal for many to feel aches and pains, especially as we grow older. Often, we don't give this fact a lot of thought and consider it as part of our dai- ly routine, even though for some this may make their life very difficult. Such pain is often hidden, only the person suffering is aware of the daily struggles that they must go through to fight through the pain. For those individuals with Chronic Fa- tigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, the situation is much worse as these illnesses are recognised by doctors and specialists for the pain and struggles, they bring with them. These illnesses are hidden and of- ten very hard to diagnose. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a long-term illness with a wide range of symptoms. The most common symp- tom is extreme tiredness, but it can also include sleep problems, muscle pain and headaches among others. Fibromyalgia is a chronic, debilitating condition where patients experience widespread pain, fa- tigue, mood changes, sleep and memory problems. Those suffering from Fibromy- algia also experience a high sensitivity to pain and may also suffer from migraines and IBS. These are just some of the symptoms that these individuals experience every day and it should be our priority to en- sure that these patients get the best care and treatment possible. Unfortunately, the resources that such patients have at their disposal is very limited and this on- ly serves to make their life harder due to the chronic pain and fatigue. One would think that at the very least, in all EU Mem- ber States that such conditions are recog- nised as a disability. Unfortunately, since healthcare is left under the remit of each individual coun- try, this is not the case and we currently face a situation where in some cases, these illnesses are considered as a disability which allows the patients to get treatment and financial help while in other states, these illnesses are not recognised and thus no help is available. In Malta, it was only in 2020 that fibromyalgia patients became eligible for sickness benefits, thanks to the Maltese Government. This is a situation that affects almost 20% of EU citizens but there is no level playfield for these individuals. It is the EU Commission's duty to ensure that these illnesses are recognised at an EU level. Only by having recognition at the highest levels can more work be done through re- search and also find ways to improve ac- cess to diagnosis and treatment. CFS and Fibromyalgia are illnesses which can become disabling, and the con- ditions cause around 40% of sufferers to reduce their work hours or stop work al- together. Here we have a situation where apart from the suffering itself, these pa- tients are also facing issues when it comes to their employment, which may also lead to financial troubles if they must give up their work. We must increase employers' awareness that these conditions play an active part in their employees' work rou- tine. Only by increasing such awareness can we work together and find ways to in- crease comfort and find initiatives which can help these patients retain their em- ployment. To help patients suffering with CFS and Fibromyalgia, the work must be two-fold; we must ensure that these illnesses are recognised as disability at a European level and at the same time, increase the aware- ness and provide resources to employers' which in turn can help these individuals in the workplace. If we use a holistic ap- proach, we can ensure that resources are provided, and obstacles removed so these patients live a full and happy life as they deserve. Alex Agius Saliba is a Labour MEP (S&D) cause it's all related, at the end of the day. More construction also means more particulate dust in the atmosphere; more respiratory problems; more loss of agricultural land, as well as rural space in which to plant trees, etc., etc,) – do not even feature anywhere at all, in what the PN has presented to us as its 'environmental vision' for the future. And this is why I suspect that no serious environmentalist could possibly have been con- sulted, in the drawing up of these proposals. For among the most glaring omissions, there just happens to be the single, most urgent threat to Malta's environment as a whole. Water. Yes, folks: that same precious (and soon to be non-existent) resource that is, inter alia, necessary for the planting of trees… as well as for the culti- vation of crops (and to support all life on earth as we know it)… it doesn't even get a single, sol- itary mention anywhere in this document. And this would be bizarre, even if there wasn't the immi- nent of danger of desertifica- tion, as the result of global cli- mate change. Ok, I'll keep this part brief, because I wrote about it quite recently… but in case anyone's forgotten: we still live in a country that produces 60% of its potable water through Re- verse Osmosis – at an estimat- ed cost of "between 16 and 18 million Euro per year", please note – while extracting the rest from the aquifer through bore- holes. Meanwhile, the aquifer itself is threatened by both diminishing annual rainfall and over-extrac- tion – oh, and also by over-de- velopment (which eats into fields and valleys, so that most of the limited rain that does fall, no longer seeps into the soil to replenish the water table, etc.). So if nothing is done about this problem, we shall very soon have to rely almost exclusively on RO for our entire water sup- ply… … which also means more en- ergy consumption; more emis- sions; more expense… not to mention the possible danger of, say, an oil spill (or equivalent marine catastrophe), that might pollute even our last remaining water-source, too. So… where are the PN's pro- posals for a National Water Strategy? How does it intend to mitigate the rising salina- tion levels of Malta's main aq- uifers? And – to mention one issue that was, in fact, raised by these proposals… how does it propose to 'protect farmers and their fields': when it is si- multaneously ignoring the two main factors that are directly threatening the future survival of agriculture in Malta? In oth- er words, water scarcity, and over-development…? But tell you what: let me not conclude on such a dismal note. It is, I suppose, encouraging that the Nationalist Party has fi- nally discovered that this thing called 'the Environment' does, in fact, exist… All that remains is to proceed to Phase Two: and look up that word in a dictionary.