When Anatole Baldacchino was six years old, his mother shared something that had been troubling her – she told him that his left hand’s fingers were shorter than his right’s because she had taken a medicine called thalidomide when she was pregnant with him.

Back then Anatole, who had “a happy and normal childhood” did not think much of it. But as he grew older, he yearned to learn more about this medicine that impacted his life and, as he would learn, that of thousands around the world.

Thalidomide was a drug prescribed to pregnant women to combat morning sickness between the late 1950s and 1961 – when it was withdrawn after it emerged that it was causing severe malformations, and deaths, in babies.

It is estimated that over 10,000 babies were affected by the drug worldwide.

“It was like a skeleton in the closet. I needed to know more. I had big question marks: In Malta there is a thalidomide generation. Many only know that their mother took the drug and nothing more,” he says.

“Some don’t even know. In other countries this was discussed and debated for years but, here, nothing, I saw that there is a big gap.”

Register of survivors

This is why Anatole is now spearheading a campaign aimed at gathering Maltese thalidomide survivors to compile a register.

This will be the first step in a process aimed at offering support and seeking justice through compensation – something that has been done in some 47 countries.

“I want to bring a voice to Maltese victims. After 50 to 60 years, someone is now hearing you – it’s a nice thing,” says Anatole.

He is almost apologetic as he shares his story that led him to start the campaign.

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” he says as he points out his “thalidomide injury” – his shorter left fingers. This, he quickly adds, is “minor” compared to what other survivors had to live with.

“My mother took the drug at a time when there was not so much awareness. It was 1964. It was at the beginning of the pregnancy. She was feeling dizzy. She went to talk back to the person who prescribed her the drug and was then told to stop it. I am the product of that,” he says.

“She told me about it when I was about six years old. It troubled her. Parents suffered a lot. When you go take something, you trust the system and what you are given. Even today, let alone in the 50s and 60s,” he adds.

Remembering the babies that died

Anatole goes on to add that he had a normal childhood, as the middle of three siblings, and was raised in a very supportive family at a time when having a child with a disability was seen as “taboo” and “a curse” by some who hid their children from the world.

He grew up to become a certified accountant and researcher and went on to get married and has three daughters.

As Anatole grew older, he started recognising thalidomide survivors.

“You meet people. You recognise them. You see the features easily – such as impacted shoulders. I’m moving this campaign because I realised there are these people who do not have a voice. They have been suffering in silence for 50 years,” he says.

“It’s not just about justice for survivors but also for those who died. There were lots of infant mortalities at the time when statistics were not kept,” he said as he called for the country to honour them with a Remembrance Day.

“Thalidomide happened all over the world. We were not immune. Associations were set up around the globe to gather survivors and fight for compensation. Justice for Maltese thalidomide survivors is also justice and a distinctive honour for Malta.

“I think this subject can unite the people of Malta... everyone suffered.”

Thalidomide disaster

Known to be one of the biggest man-made disasters in history, the thalidomide disaster started when the drug was developed in the 1950s by the West German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal.

It was originally marketed as a sedative, but from the late 1950s it was prescribed to pregnant women around the world to combat morning sickness.

The drug was sold in over 50 countries across the world under more than 80 different trade names.

Within 10 years it became clear that the drug was causing serious birth defects and, by late 1961, it was withdrawn.

Throughout those years it’s estimated that over 10,000 babies were affected by the drug worldwide.

Around half died within months of being born.

Thousands of children were born without limbs or underdeveloped arms and legs that were mere stumps.

Other symptoms included deformed alimentary and urinary tracts, blindness, deafness or deformed eyes and hearts.

Thalidomide forced governments and medical authorities to review their pharmaceutical licensing policies.

The drug is still around and is now used to treat leprosy, some AIDS-related conditions and as a targeted cancer drug.

Thalidomide survivors, or people who know of any, can send an email to inclusion.misw@gov.mt