According to the most recent data available to the EU’s statistical office, the rate of cancer-related fatalities in Malta has decreased steadily, dropping by 11 per cent in the five years up to 2016. This trend is supported by the statistics recorded by the Malta National Cancer Registry, showing that deaths from cancer in 2017 continued to decrease.
This is most encouraging news. According to Professor Christian Scerri of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, the drop in cancer-related deaths came about mainly as a result of a reduction in the rates of death for breast cancer.
In turn, this was probably as a result of the breast-screening programme, which started a decade ago, and better-targeted treatment.
However, while cancer survival rates were improving, the incidence rate of cancer was actually rising. This was partly due to the ageing population, but also due to other salient factors, such as obesity, smoking, alcohol excess, lack of exercise, poor diet and the presence of fine microparticles in our highly polluted conurbations.
About four years ago, the now defunct think-tank, the Today Public Policy Institute, published a well-researched report by the late Dr George Debono entitled: ‘The Environmental Dimension of Malta’s Ill Health and Action to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Dementia’.
The report constituted a passionate plea not only for the Maltese to incorporate healthy living into their everyday lives, but also for the government to take the necessary steps to improve the medical health promotion aspects of healthy living. It was also a powerful indictment of the environmental planning aspects which so affect daily life in Malta, especially in transport, pollution reduction and the quality of life of the urban environment.
The report underlined that exercise is the thread that unites most preventive measures. It is increasingly recognised as the pivotal factor in reducing non-communicable diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia.
There seems little appreciation of the importance and economic benefit of maintaining good health by appropriate preventive lifestyle measures. The crux of the issue is that a life-long healthy lifestyle reduces the likelihood of the aged becoming a burden on society.
The proportion of Maltese who are obese or overweight is a national scandal affecting hundreds of young children, youths and middle-aged people. Inadequate exercise is a major factor, but poor diet is also a culprit. There is a greater need to eat more fresh vegetables, fruit and fish.
Cutting back on sugar is the single most efficient strategy for losing weight and limiting the risks of diabetes and its complications. The latter include heart disease, kidney failures, blindness, loss of hearing and amputations.
Obesity more broadly is closely correlated with a high risk of cancer, liver disease and depression and leads inexorably to type 2 diabetes and early onset dementia. Diabetes and diabetes-related illnesses and heart disease are among the biggest drains on Malta’s public health system.
Maltese people suffer more deaths from heart disease and enjoy shorter lives than their Mediterranean counterparts in Italy, Spain and Cyprus. If not enough is done by government and health authorities to encourage a healthy physical lifestyle this will continue to cast a long shadow over Malta’s future health. The continued need for healthy balanced diets and a healthy lifestyle is the best protection against communicable as well as non-communicable diseases.