Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/302202
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 APRIL 2014 11 News MIRIAM DALLI ONE invitation could save a wom- an's life: being invited to be screened for breast cancer. Both government and NGOs have embarked on countless campaigns to help raise awareness about the importance of detecting cancer at early stages. Breast cancer is the most common type of female cancer in Malta and, across Europe, suffers the highest incident and mortality rates. One in eight women is diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her lifetime. According to a 2012 Eurostat sur- vey, Malta has the highest rate of malignant breast cancer in the Eu- ropean Union. In 2009, the death rate due to such types of cancer was 34 per 100,000 inhabitants, com- pared to the EU's average of 23. In 2009, Malta kicked off a breast- screening programme for women aged between 50 and 60. A national programme for the screening of colon cancer was launched in late 2012. According to information tabled in parliament, 403 women lost their battle against breast cancer between 2008 and 2012. A total of 1,486 cases were recorded in the national cancer register between 2007 and 2011. Latest data provided by the parlia- mentary secretariat for health shows that 1,884 invitations were sent out to women between December 2013 and January 2014. 1,113 women ac- cepted the call and seven were diag- nosed with breast cancer. Breast screening can breast cancer at a very early stage, with a mam- mogram detecting small changes in breast tissue which may indicate cancers that are too small to be felt either by the woman herself or by a doctor. On the other hand, the uptake of invitations for colon cancer screen- ing is not as popular: out of the 1,356 invitations sent during the same period, only 415 people took part. Thirty-nine cases where can- cer was suspected turned out to be positive, while two other cases were discovered. Since 2012, over 16,000 persons aged between 60 and 64 were invit- ed for the colon cancer screening. However, only 41% accepted the free invitation and 200 of them were found positive to the screening test. All of them were referred for colon- oscopy. Fifteen persons were found to be suffering from this cancer. The government has also launched a separate programme for the pre- vention of cervical cancer: all girls born in 2000 and 2001 are eligible for the free administration of a vac- cine that targets two strands of hu- man papilloma virus (HPV), a sexu- ally transmitted disease that affects women and is believed to be the major cause of cervical cancer. The vaccine is divided into a course of three injections. This year, the invitation has been extended to those girls born in 2002 as well. By the end of January, a total of 3,682 girls were invited to take the vaccine: 2,921 girls have been administered the first vaccine, 2,639 have taken the second one and 1,461 have completed the course of medication. Low take-up for colon cancer screening Over 16,000 persons were invited for a colon cancer screening: only 41% accepted the free invitation Secret report on Christian Brothers alleges 'sex underworld' in orphanages A 'secret' report handed to Chris- tian Brothers bosses in Rome has revealed a "sex underworld" in some of the order's Australian orphanages, with some monks raping up to 50 boys each, The Australian newspa- per reported on Saturday. The report, prepared in the early 1990s by the order's official histo- rian, contained damning evidence the order's h i e r a r c h y in Australia knew dec- ades earlier about the widespread abuse, but hid it. D e s p i t e knowing of the abuse, w h i c h s t r e t c h e d back at least to 1920, the order nego- tiated with Catholic rescue societies in the UK and Malta for thousands of child migrants to be shipped to Australia. "As long as outsiders do not be- come aware, we may hope for better times after the war," the principal of the Christian Brothers in Western Australia, Brother PA Conlon, wrote in 1941, according to the report. In 1935, Brother Conlon had writ- ten to another brother about the possibility of "scandals". The report, which has never been made public in full, has been ob- tained by the child sex abuse royal commission. The Royal Commission into Insti- tutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating how institu- tions like schools, churches, sports clubs and government organisations have responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse. The commission is sitting in Perth next week to investigate the handling of abuse by the Christian Brothers at its four notorious orphanages in Western Australia. Among the homes were Castledare, St Vincent's, St Mary's Agricultural School and Bindoon Farm School, all which will be investigated by the royal commission. The exist- ence of the report, written by Brother Bar- ry Coldrey in 1993 and sent to the S u p e r i o r - General of the Chris- tian Broth- ers in Rome, surfaced in a NSW Su- preme Court case the fol- lowing year, brought against the or- der by more than 200 migrants. The case was settled and the report was suppressed by the court. Maltese child migration took place over a short period (1950-1965) and involved relatively few – 310 – chil- dren, as part of the general exodus from Malta following World War II. Strong evidence that child migration was accompanied by psychological, physical and sexual abuse among the Christian Brothers, such as the Australian Senate Community Ref- erence Committee report, suggest that sexual abuse was widespread if not endemic. In 1993 the Christian Brothers published a national apol- ogy. The Congregation of Christian Brothers, not to be confused with the Lasallian order, is a Catholic reli- gious community founded by Bless- ed Edmund Rice.