Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/556862
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 AUGUST 2015 4 News WEEE REFORM ARE YOU A MANUFACTURER/IMPORTER OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT? By the you are requested to send an email on weee@mepa.org.mt to register or renew your registration with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), and to also notify MEPA whether you intend to be self compliant or be joining a collective compliance scheme. Enquiries about this registration process may be made by calling +356 2290 7240 or by sending an email on weee@mepa.org.mt. Further information is also available on www.mepa.org.mt, and on www.environment.gov.mt End of life: 14% of doctors asked to euthanise patient CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The GPs interviewed were shown to be in the main believers in preserv- ing life, and while they would not consider euthanasia, many do not shun the intensification of pain- killers and analgesia at patients' end of life. The study further reveals that most doctors are guided by reli- gious values when dealing with end-of-life issues. Whereas a good number of GPs were not against the intensifica- tion of analgesia to control pain and other symptoms of disease when patients are dying, the ma- jority are against sedating patients at the end of their life. 41.1% of the 160 doctors sur- veyed had intensified analgesia at end of life, but only 7.5% had se- dated patients. 15% of GPs withdrew or with- held treatment in the care of these patients. One reason cited in the study for the reluctance to sedate patients is that in Maltese, as in the English language, a commonly used phrase in veterinary medicine is 'putting an animal to sleep'. "Hence sedation in patients might be associated with 'killing' even due to a linguistic issue," Abela said in his study. 14.4% of GPs also said they had received requests for euthanasia but 89.1% of them would never consider euthanasia. 89.8% of re- spondents considered their re- spective religion or philosophy of life as being important or "very important" in guiding their end- of-life decisions. Interestingly, a relative major- ity of respondents (45.3%) agreed that patients had a right to decide whether to hasten their end or not. But there was a significant agree- ment that physicians should al- ways aim to preserve life, with just 17.7% disagreeing with such an aim. Respondents had cared for an av- erage four terminal patients over the past 12 months. The majority of GPs (58.1%) agree with the process of with- drawing or withholding various forms of treatment at the end of life. This response might seem to contradict the strong sense of pre- serving life. But the study notes that withdrawing or withholding treatment is not necessarily done with the aim or consequence of hastening death. 82.3% of family doctors identi- fied Roman Catholicism as their religion. Further to this response, the doctors were asked to rate how important their religion or philoso- phy was in taking end-of-life deci- sions. 53% replied 'very important' while 37% replied 'important'. The study concludes that in gen- eral GPs believe in preserving life as a guiding principle at the end of life, but do not shun intensification of analgesia at the end of life. But it also shows that there exists "some misunderstanding with re- spect to the role of sedation at the end of life" and calls for guidance for GPs in dealing with the legal aspect and ethics of end-of-life decisions. In the absence of such guidance, the doctors' "religion and philosophy of life are used to guide them in this rather difficult area of practice". jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Lack of guidance on end-of-life ethics leaves GPs depending on religion to guide them on 'difficult area of practice' At least 40 dead in Mediterranean sinking AT least 40 migrants were said to have died in an umpteenth sinking in the Mediterranean, the Italian navy said yesterday. Via its official Twitter account, the Marina Militare said that a rescue operation was under- way and several migrants were saved. "At least 40 persons have died," it said. Italian media report that bod- ies were found in the hold of the vessel. Specialist website Migrant Re- port said the migrants probably died from asphyxiation from the fumes of the engine, and poor ventilation. "The vessel was spotted at around 8:10am by a drone oper- ated from the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) around 21 nautical miles off Libya's terri- torial waters. The Italian navy vessel Cigala Fulgosi was closest to the boat and arrived at the scene around an hour after it was spotted. As rescuers started pulling people to safety, some migrants alerted them that some people were unconscious near the engine," Migrant Re- port said. When the boats reached them, they found piles of bodies to- wards the rear end of the boat. According to the Internation- al Organisation for Migration, rescues at sea are occurring at a rate of over 1,000 migrants a day this summer off Italy and Greece. Deaths at sea are also at record levels this year. In the last eight days there have been two more shipwrecks in the Mediterrane- an, pushing total fatalities cal- culated by IOM's Missing Mi- grants Project to at least 2,300. Last month, on 28 July, the crew of the Irish Navy vessel Le Niamh found themselves in the exact same situation. In all, 14 people were found dead in the hold of a wooden boat from which 586 people were rescued. On Saturday, 650 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast in a busy day with multi- ple operations. Aerial photo by MOAS of boat on which Italian navy found 40 dead