Watch: 'We aren't doing enough' - MP in emotional call for mental health reform
Claudette Buttigieg says Malta is failing to address mental health issues following deaths of Karl Gouder and Jan Pace
One month short of a year since the sudden death of her friend and colleague Karl Gouder, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg has said not enough is being done to address mental health in Malta.
In an emotional speech in parliament during the second reading of amendments to the Prevention of Disease Ordinance, Buttigieg took the opportunity to draw attention to mental health.
“I worry sometimes collectively, I am not pointing fingers at anyone in particular, we aren’t doing enough,” said Buttigieg, her voice breaking with emotion.
She explained that her reaction stemmed from her close relationship with former PN MP Karl Gouder, who passed away suddenly in September last year at the age of 45.
Gouder, who served as the chief operations officer of the Nationalist Party’s media arm, was found dead in Valletta.
Buttigieg also referred to the recent death of 36-year-old Jan Pace, whose passing earlier this month reignited calls for better mental health support in Malta. Pace had participated in her television shows in his youth.
“I had to face this reality and truth in a brutal way,” she said. She shared that both Gouder and Pace were surrounded by family and friends and that they were loved.
"But the truth is we have realities that we are not tackling well enough.”she said.
“I can't stand seeing it anymore, especially when in this country we have this serious problem,” she said, expressing frustration at the performative mourning that often follows such deaths “and then, a bit of time passes and we forget everything.”
She called for sustained action and questioned current efforts: “What are we doing? What are we doing to genuinely make a difference in this sector? I don't think we are doing enough.”
Buttigieg also highlighted what she described as “a serious link” between mental health issues, alcohol abuse, and drug use. She recounted a conversation with a young person who described the current party scene, noting that while she had some awareness of the situation, she admitted, “I never imagined it would be on this level.”
She added some are attending parties, getting high, and then crashing physically and emotionally. "They are left feeling they are all alone."
Buttiegieg, who has been a long-term ally of the LGBTQ community, also noted a "cycle, particularly of gay men who are exposed to these types of pressures. I know what I’m saying 100 per cent. Let’s get our heads out of the sand and see what on earth is going on in our country.”
“Excuse me for getting emotional, but it's almost been a year since I lost one of my close friends, and I don’t feel we are doing enough,” she said, breaking down in tears.