Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/933296
maltatoday SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2018 Opinion 24 S o there I was, thinking that nothing could really shock me anymore... only to read in the papers that a seven-year-old girl died in this country as a direct consequence of poverty and neglect. Well, that's how it was initially reported in the papers, any way. And much as I hate to say this about the profession I form part of myself... (note: you can take this as a 'mea culpa' for all the things I've also got wrong in my career)... you do have to be a little careful about what your 'read in the papers' these days. In fact, the Maltese press would be wise not to adopt too critical an approach to the many 'systemic failures' involved in this case. There are 'systemic failures' within the media, too. One of them concerns a truly worrying tendency to simply pole-vault to all the wrong conclusions, without a shred of evidence to back up the story. We were initially told, for instance, that the girl in question 'died of starvation' at the Zabbar residence where she lived... when in reality she died at Mater Dei Hospital, of a rare condition known as 'aplastic anaemia' (though naturally, malnutrition couldn't have helped much either). Seriously, though: would it have been too much trouble to wait for a solid lead on the cause of death, before running such an inaccurate story? And if the Maltese press can't get even such a simple fact right – the result of an autopsy, for crying out loud, or where that poor girl actually died – why should anyone believe a word we print about any other issue or occurrence, of any kind? All the same, however, I will not retract my earlier claim that the cause of death was 'a direct consequence of poverty and neglect'. Some of the details now emerging are almost more shocking than the fatality itself. Consider this testimony of a family friend: "Late last year, the children were referred to hospital for a medical examination but, for some reason, they were instead seen by a psychologist. Following the examination, the parents received three bills – one for each child – and this put them off ever seeking medical help again for fear of accruing debt they knew they could not settle." It is not clear whether the children were 'referred to hospital ' by Appogg social workers... who were aware of this case since 2016... but it is fairly evident that something must have gone horribly wrong with the referral process itself. I was under this vague impression that our national healthcare system – so much in the news these days – offered its services for free to all residents and EU citizens. That includes persons enjoying refugee status, too – the category we are talking about here. So why was that family billed for what should have been a free service? And how did a 'referral to hospital for a medical examination' – which might have picked up the eventual cause of death in time to avoid it – get so hopelessly lost in translation, that the children ended up being seen by private psychologists instead of NHS doctors? Even without these details, however, I feel this case should really force us to confront certain realities we have been avoiding for too long. One of these concerns a general misconception about the quality of our social welfare system as a whole. We tend to think of ourselves as extremely generous and civic-minded (compared to other countries) when it comes to financing social services through public money. But ask anyone actually involved in social welfare, and the picture you will find yourself looking at will be very different. Very different, that is, from the way the Maltese welfare state is portrayed. In practice, it turns out that our services are none too different from the ones we tend to scoff at in other countries. I don't want to be too dismissive here – this is not meant as criticism of the people who work in social welfare. And besides: if even much richer countries are plagued by similar systemic failures... wouldn't it be patently unrealistic to expect anything better here? Erm... no, actually, it wouldn't. There are a number of good, solid reasons why Malta should indeed have a far superior social welfare safety net than other countries: i.e., a social welfare system of the kind we like to think we have, as opposed to the one we have in reality. For one thing, the size and scope of the society those services cater for is infinitely more manageable here than it would be in much larger countries: where not only is the number of social cases (and, by extension, the expenses involved) much greater, but so is the disparity of wealth. Poverty on the level we are now talking about may not be entirely 'alien' to this country – it probably never was – and there is evidence that it is on the increase. But it remains nowhere near the scale of poverty you will find in, for instance, the United States, or the depressed suburbs of several European capitals. And apart from the, logistical implications... there is a cultural dimension to this scenario. Unlike so many other countries, our philosophy concerning social welfare is underpinned by two massively perennial cultural traits: Socialism, and Christianity. Malta is an exception to the general rule elsewhere in Europe, in that there is broad political consensus here: not only to retain a fully-free social welfare model (without means testing, etc), but also to expand on it wherever possible. Consider, for instance, how the two political parties routinely accuse each other of wanting to erode social services – by privatising parts of the NHS, for instance – while simultaneously promising to protect the free-for-all model in its entirety. You won't find that in many other countries, you know. There will always be at least one political party across the full spectrum that will argue the opposite: that their country was spending too much on social welfare, and should start scaling back its services. It's generally called the 'right wing', and it exists (every where else in Europe) Raphael Vassallo Cause of death: poverty In practice, it turns out that our services are none too different from the ones we tend to scoff at in other countries COURT NOTICE The Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals informs that the Civil Court, First Hall ordered the following sales by auction: Date Time Judicial Sale No Place Items 7 th February 2018 10.30am 14/17- EGL North Services Limited C18689 vs Mahon Barry 156109A 14/3, Triq il-Belt Valletta, Qormi Vehicle of the make Honda FIT light blue in colour with the registration number FCH 436. 7 th February 2018 11.30am 35/17- JGL Dr. Georg Sapiano 71568M vs Jette Scott 82871 A Garage 447, Triq Il-Kbira San Ġuzepp, Santa Venera Vehicle of the make Audi Q3 white in colour with the registration number BAT 288. 14 th February 2018 10.30am 10/17-AZ J.Zammit Ltd. C37945 vs Spiridione Nappa 267381M St.James Court Garage 3 Triq Il-Kappar, H'Attard Vehicle of the make Fiat Punto, black in colour with the registration number ACA 518. 14 th February 2018 11.30am 34/17-EGL Bilom Construction Ltd. C48672 vs JAJ Company Ltd. Land In Santa Katerina, Limits of Rabat Truck Mazda Titan yellow in colour with the registration number ABG 836. Truck Bedford yellow and grey in colour with the registration number CAA 293. Truck Isuzu yellow in colour with the registration number DAU 056. Truck Leyland yellow in colour with the registration DAI 746. Leyland Concrete Mixer colour in yellow with the registration number EAF 614. Leyland Concrete Mixer yellow in colour with the registration number FBE 502. Leyland Ted Horse yellow in colour with the registration number FBN 093. Iveco Pool hole Bares colour in grey with the registration number HBA 312. 21st February 2018 10.30am 9/16 - EGL AC Fuels Limited C60673 vs Anthony Schembri et. 671761M Alfaran Complex, Triq Ħal Far, Birżebbuga Truck of the make Bedford blue and red in colour with the registrazzjoni number EAD 216. Further details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/search.aspx The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar Civil Courts and Tribunals