Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1480753
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 OCTOBER 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Steward meeting with minister WITH reference to the article pub- lished on the front page of MaltaToday on Sunday on 2 OCTOBER 2022 and on Maltatoday.com.mt on 27th Sep- tember titled "Minister and Steward in meeting over hospital milestones", Steward Health Care Malta wants to clarify the merits of the facts and argu- ments made in the article in question, through this reply: Steward Health Care Malta is com- mitted to providing the people of Malta with first-class health care. We contin- ue to invest in and improve our opera- tions and staff to deliver quality care for our patients. As the provider of health care to a significant portion of the Maltese population, we remain in frequent di- alogue with the Government of Malta, including the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in the sector. We are committed to working with the relevant authorities to stabilise the concession and to ensure that the Maltese people receive quality healthcare through in- vestment in facilities, in people and in communities. On our arrival in Malta in 2018, the concession was incurring heavy losses that were not visible to the public nor to the Government. The improved qual- ity results in 2018 and 2019 onwards and positive fiscal results for 2020 are a testament to our abilities as a serious and professional operator to successful- ly drive an impressive turnaround. We stand by our duty to transparency and financial accountability, and are dedi- cated to our patients, who remain our primary priority. While the terms of the existing con- cession agreement do place constraints on Steward Malta's ability to make large-scale investments and secure financing for major projects, we are always prepared to work collaboratively to rectify the agreement's faults. We will remain a constructive partner in any talks to overcome the structural defects of the agreement and we continue to seek an outcome that allows us to de- liver the best service for the people and patients of Malta. Nadine Delicata President, Steward Health Care Malta Abortion and choice NICE, sweet-sounding words, a burn- ing zeal to promote an ideal, personal views, and presenting readers with pe- riod history of the Church on its doc- trine on abortion do not convert a lie or misconception into a fact. Nor is the opinion of the majority necessarily the right and just decision. Indeed it is time for humanity, com- passion and empathy to work not to- wards the diffusion of abortion, but in favour of the unborn child. Have we already forgotten that way back to the first century, the Church maintained that every procured abor- tion is morally bad and a most serious crime? Even before that: "Before I formed thee, in the bowels of thy moth- er, I knew thee: and before thou camst forth out of the womb, I sanctified th- ee." (Ger1-5) And yet, Albert Said, Carmel Sciber- ras, and K. Vella Bardon's stances (in another newspaper) backed up by sci- entific and medical authorities' reports, have not and cannot be rebutted. Humbled at my ignorance, by Prof. Isabel Stabile's criterion, if abortion is healthcare, poison is a tonic and child- births slaughter of the innocents. Stabile's article, at least, served one useful purpose. It revealed, in no uncer- tain manner, Malta's decadent moral and ethical standards and utter disregard of God's commandments. It is terribly sad to notice that so many people fail to see the harmful effects of abortion. Mother Theresa couldn't be more specific: abortion is the biggest destroy- er of peace in the world. John Azzopardi Zabbar