Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1425206
NEWS 7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2021 KURT SANSONE THERE are 610 patients needing a knee re- placement, who have been waiting more than 18 months to be operated on, information tabled in parliament shows. Health Minister Chris Fearne said that by the end of September, 610 patients had been wait- ing for more than the timeframe stipulated by the Patient Charter adopted by Mater Dei Hos- pital. The charter stipulates that in non-urgent cas- es "intervention must be initiated within 18 months for a condition that is unlikely to deteri- orate quickly and that does not have the imme- diate potential to become an emergency". Similarly, there are 127 patients in need of a hip replacement and who have been waiting longer than the timeframe laid down by the Pa- tient Charter. Fearne insisted that surgical operations are prioritised according to clinical need and not on a first come, first served basis. He was replying to questions made by Oppo- sition MP Claudette Buttigieg, who asked how long the waiting list for knee and hip replace- ment surgeries is. 600 patients have been waiting for knee replacement surgery more than 18 months Health Minister says 610 patients have been waiting for more than a year and a half to get a knee replacement operation, while 127 patients need a hip replacement KURT SANSONE MALTA is among more than 100 countries pledging to end and re- verse deforestation by 2030, in the COP26 climate summit's first ma- jor agreement. The COP26 deal includes Brazil, the home of the Amazon rainfor- est, where cutting down of trees has intensified over the past few years. The pledge includes €16 billion of public and private funds. Experts welcomed the move, but warned a previous deal in 2014 had "failed to slow deforestation at all". Cutting trees contributes to cli- mate change because it depletes forests that absorb vast amounts of CO2, the gas that contributes to global warming. UK Prime Minister Boris John- son, who is hosting the glob- al meeting in Glasgow, will call Tuesday's deal a "landmark agree- ment to protect and restore the Earth's forests". Large tracts of forests are re- moved annually to make space for agriculture and grazing areas to feed the world. Within the global context, Mal- ta's contribution may be insig- nificant but the pledge includes a commitment to "conserve forests and other terrestrial ecosystems and accelerate their restoration". Countries will also commit to "facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and do- mestically, that promote sustaina- ble development, and sustainable commodity production and con- sumption". In Malta, tree cover is low and woodland cover is less than 5% of the area of the Maltese Islands, according to the State of the En- vironment report released in 2018 by the Environment and Resourc- es Authority. The report, which covered the period until 2015, noted that 67,000 trees were planted between 2008 and 2015 in various affores- tation initiatives in various areas. In the budget delivered earlier this month, government pledged a multi-million-euro investment to create a massive coastal wood- land in the Inwadar Park between Żonqor Point in Marsaskala and Xgħajra. But the country has also seen the loss of mature trees to make way for road-widening projects over the past four years with the roads agency making up for the loss by planting thousands of trees. COP26: Malta among 100 countries vowing to end deforestation by 2030 World leaders meeting in Glasgow to address the impact of climate change promise to end deforestation by 2030 and Malta is one of the signatories Trees cover less than 5% of the land area in Malta but the country is pledging to end and reverse deforestation as part of a commitment undertaken at the Glasgow climate summit