Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1516944
NEWS 12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 MARCH 2024 PATIENT and public involve- ment (PPI) is defined as research that is carried out 'with' or 'by' the public and patients rather than 'to', 'about' or 'for' them. PPI is thus the active contri- bution of patients, often with lived experience of a condition, in determining how research is formulated, conducted, inter- preted, and communicated. Ep- ilepsy, which affects over 4000 persons in Malta and Gozo, can have profound physical, psy- chological, social and economic consequences. There are still many miscon- ceptions about the condition and this greatly hinders per- sons with epilepsy to integrate fully in society. PPI can thus empower persons with epilep- sy to participate more fully in policy and research decisions which affect their life. These were some of the main points to emerge from a Mal- ta Epilepsy Forum organised by the Caritas Malta Epilepsy Association entitled Patient Public Involvement (PPI) in Epilepsy on Saturday 2 March 2024, Caritas Community Cen- tre, Hamrun, Malta, attended by over 100 participants which included persons with epilep- sy and their relatives as well as various health care profession- als and policy makers. The forum was opened by Frank Portelli, President, Cari- tas Malta Epilepsy Association with welcome remarks by An- thony Gatt, Director, Caritas Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President Emeritus of Malta, Graziella Galea, Oppo- sition spokesperson for Inclu- sion and the Voluntary Sector and a video message from Julia Farrugia Portelli, Minister for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector. The key note talks were giv- en by Prof Helen Cross, The Prince of Wales's Chair of Childhood Epilepsy, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London, UK; President, International League Against Epilepsy and Dr Francesca Sofia from Milan, Italy, President, International Bureau for Epilepsy, who dis- cussed how PPI is being imple- mented at an international lev- el, such as in interactions with WHO. The panel discussion focused on the European and Maltese experience in patient public involvement in epilepsy and included the participation of Lorraine Lally, Ireland; Mi- chael Alexa, Austria; Dr Anna Camilleri, VP CMEA Malta; Shirley Maxwell, Epilepsy Con- nections, Scotland; Matthew Attard, PR CMEA, Malta and Thomas Porschen, Germa- ny. The main message from the Forum emphasised that per- sons with epilepsy should not keep their condition hidden; they should speak out and be more involved in policy deci- sions which affect their future such as availability of new anti- seizure medicines in Malta. The Forum was closed by Opposition spokesperson for Health Dr Adrian Delia. Jo-Etienne Abela, Minister for Health expressed his wish for CMEA to forward the re- port to him in order that the issues raised can be addressed. Enabling Patient Public Involvement (PPI) in epilepsy THE Malta Bankers' Association (MBA) and Archi+, has held the second edition of the Real Estate and Finance Valuation Work- shop with a dedicated focus on ESG and sustainability require- ments in real estate valuation. Themed "The impact of ESG and sustainability on real es- tate investment, finance and valuation", for the second year around, the workshop attract- ed numerous bankers, stake- holders and other profession- als from the real estate sector, further positioning the event as a valuable forum for knowledge sharing and exploration of the most pertinent and topical is- sues in the field. The workshop was opened by the Chair of the Malta Bankers' Association Marcel Cassar who welcomed the participants and introduced the context for the presentations and discussions on the agenda. In his speech Mr Cassar stressed that ESG is here to stay although in fact it has always been around. How- ever, ESG requirements will in- creasingly shape and influence real estate valuation. Mr Cassar concluded his speech by main- taining that if we want a pos- itive long-term return on real estate investment, be it resi- dential or commercial, this will also increasingly come from sustainability-proof business models that are built on sound ESG principles. Archi+ property valuation ex- pert Justin Mizzi commented: "In a period of rapidly changing global real estate market dy- namics, the MBA and Archi+ annual workshop on real estate finance and valuation aimed to educate and encourage dis- cussion, knowledge sharing, and debate between the key local property stakeholders on diverse aspects of real-estate theory and practice. Moreover, this year's workshops offered an insightful exploration of a topic that is becoming impos- sible to ignore: ESG (Environ- mental, Social and Govern- ance) - where we delved into the impact of sustainability and ESG factors on real estate fi- nance, investment and valua- tion." Topical presentations were delivered by Michaela Ghigo (Central Bank of Malta), Chris Meilak (EY Malta), Anthea Huber (Archi+) and Clint Az- zopardi Flores (Malta Bankers' Association). The workshop concluded with a panel discussion "Deal- ing with the flaws, threats and challenges of ESG in real estate finance, investment and valu- ation", that was moderated by the Secretary General of the Malta Bankers' Association, Karol Gabarretta. The dis- cussion saw the participation of Perit David Xuereb (Chair MCESD and ESG Alliance), Clint Azzopardi Flores (Malta Bankers' Association), Chris Meilak ((EY Malta), and Mi- chael Warrington (CEO AX Group p.l.c.). This year's event was struc- tured across two workshops to enable a well-paced explo- ration of the topic. The first workshop was a physical event supported also by Bank of Val- letta p.l.c. and BNF Bank p.l.c. This was followed with a live online event on 7th March, supported by PwC Malta. Successful workshop on real estate finance One of a number of panel discussions