Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1416377
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 OCTOBER 2021 OPINION otherwise… there'd be nothing stopping drug-traffickers from going the whole hog, and doing it the 'Doughnut Man' way: by affixing loudspeaker on their van, and proudly advertising their wares in every town and village: 'Hawn tal-Kokaina! Kokaina friska! Ara xi ġmiel ta' Kokaina hawn…!') And yet: when it comes to in- fringing certain other laws in this country – labour laws, in this case – well, quite frank- ly they may as well just jump right into the 'Doughnut Man' approach from day one. After all, as that taxi-driver had so smugly informed me, all those years ago: everybody knows WHAT happens; everybody knows WHY it happens; every- body knows HOW it happens… and everybody even knows precisely WHERE it happens, too (because, like I said: it's not exactly very well-hidden, is it)? So if 'everybody knew' about this unsavoury state of affairs all along… then how on earth can anybody (least of all, the authorities – including govern- ment – who are responsible for law enforcement in this coun- try) claim to be, of all things, 'surprised'? And more to the point: how can anyone propose 'an an- ti-racism policy' – built on 'four main objectives', we are told; and featuring no fewer than 22 proposed 'measures' – which somehow, spectacularly, omits to even mention the two factors that Jaiteh Lamin's ex- perience made so manifest in the first place? In case it wasn't already abun- dantly clear, these include: a) the need to clamp down, once and for all, on a BLA- TANT illegal racket involving modern-day slavery (and right under our very noses, too), and; b) the need to give people like Jaiteh Lamin – and there are tens of thousands like him – the opportunity to eventu- ally regularise their position, through a citizenship-by-natu- ralisation programme. What we are doing, however, is effectively the opposite of all that: we are (very deliberately, it must be said) ignoring the wholesale disregard of labour laws… and we are also selling citizenship like hotcakes (or 'doughnuts', if you prefer) to millionaires who have no con- nection with Malta at all. Small wonder, then, that a few of the people we have so brusquely swept under the car- pet – and whose existence we still continue to ignore; even now, in spite of everything – would occasionally end up forcing us to take notice, against our will… by literally getting themselves dumped on a roadside: for all to see, and cry 'scandal' about… It is, after all, just a direct consequence of our own poli- cies… and if we're simply going to stick to those failed policies, regardless: well, we can't exact- ly expect the consequences to be any different, can we…? Cyrus Engerer is a Labour MEP (S&D) and a member of the Beating Cancer Committee Cyrus Engerer Health at the heart of our priorities AS we start the month of October, many of us will be invited to a number of pink-themed events and activities seeking to raise awareness in relation to breast cancer and the importance of early detection through screening. This has been an annual campaign which has proved to be very effective in strength- ening global awareness about the im- portance of the preventive aspect in the fight against breast cancer. The momentum which has been built by this annual campaign has also spilled over to other types of cancer which are a step behind in relation to the availabil- ity of screening services and the general awareness on the importance of early detection. As we know, 40% of cancer cases are preventable and therefore the importance of investing efforts in effec- tive cancer prevention strategies cannot be stressed enough. The challenges faced by cancer pa- tients all over the world during the past two years should drive us to be even more forceful in our efforts to campaign for this cause during this month. COV- ID-19 has had a significant impact not only on its victims but also on other pa- tients seeking other health services in- cluding cancer patients seeking access to care and screening services. We know that in the very first year of the pandemic, clinicians all over Eu- rope saw 1.5 million less cancer patients when compared to the business-as-usu- al situation. In Europe, we have seen a situation whereby 100 million screening tests were not performed for reasons relating to the pandemic. We are facing a reality in which 1 in 2 cancer patients in Europe did not receive the surgical or chemo- therapy treatment they required in view of the pressure which the pandemic has put on hospital services and patient's hesitance to access these services for fear of being exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reactivation of screening pro- grammes and cancer services all across Europe and beyond is therefore crucial to reverse the damage that has been caused during these two years. It is also important for Governments to invest in campaigns which help restore people's trust in the safety and necessity of these programmes and services. This is one of the priorities which I'm focusing on in my work as the Maltese Member of the European Parliament sitting on the Spe- cial Committee Beating Cancer. For this reason, together with the EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca as Chair for the Emanue- le Cancer Research Foundation Malta, I have joined the Time to Act campaign. This is a campaign which is being coor- dinated by the European Cancer Organ- ization and which aims at encouraging people all over Europe not to let Cov- id-19 stop them from tackling cancer. This October I therefore encourage all women to seek access to regular screen- ing services available for breast cancer. In this regard, I would like to commend the work being done in relation to the success of the Maltese preventative breast screening outreach programme which is aimed at ensuring that more women keep up their regular screening appointments and also in relation to the breast cancer screening participation rate which now amounts to 88%. Even small individual efforts can make a big difference with regard to preven- tion services. So let us take this month as an oppor- tunity to remind each other to put our health at the centre of our priorities and seek treatment and screening services regularly. The challenges faced by cancer patients all over the world during the past two years should drive us to be even more forceful in our efforts to campaign for this cause during this month.