There have been reports on smoking and the increased risk of COVID-19 transmission. People in Malta tend to smoke everywhere. Why doesn’t the government take a serious stand on smoking? − Brian Bonnici

Tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of respiratory diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by WHO on April 29 found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19, compared to non-smokers. 

The health authorities focus on tackling the impact of tobacco based on the six WHO MPOWER measures, which include monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies; protecting people from tobacco smoke; offering help to quit tobacco use; warning about the dangers of tobacco; enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and raising taxes on tobacco.

What are the best ways to avoid other issues related to the prolonged use of masks? − Rachel Theuma

Masks are recommended for use by the public in the community as a barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from the person wearing the mask on to other people when he coughs, sneezes, talks or raises their voice.

There are some situations where masks should not be worn and these include children younger than three years of age, those with medical conditions as certified by a doctor and by anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.

Face masks make breathing more difficult and hence people with severe respiratory conditions as certified by the doctor should be guided further on the usage of masks.

Wearing a face mask may give a false sense of security and lead to non-compliance with other measures, including social distancing and handwashing.

Also, the inappropriate use of a face mask, including touching of masks, change of single-use masks and washing of cloth masks may lead to increased risk and hence appropriate educational campaigns are essential.

How many cases have been detected in Gozo? With many people holidaying there, can you give us an update on the situation? − Godfrey Muscat

As of September 3, there were 11 active cases in Gozo out of 424 cases. This figure refers to persons who have a registered address in Gozo.

Given the difficulties of contact tracing due to the nature of our island and its culture, does Malta have a plan to use a contact tracing app? If so, when will this be rolled out? – David Attard

A mobile app can support contact tracing strategy. Many countries have launched such apps and Malta is also developing this technology to support contact tracing through proximity tracing and exposure notification. This will be voluntary and no person will be identified in the process.

Such apps complement the existing manual contact tracing activities undertaken by the public health authorities.

Such mobile apps, however, have their limitations, so they complement not replace conventional contact tracing, which needs to continue as it is one of the most important tools in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How safe will the vaccine against COVID-19 be? I’m not comfortable in taking this vaccine nor giving it to my children once it is available. − Nathalie Falzon

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is responsible for the scientific evaluation of centralised marketing authorisation applications for medicines, including vaccines. A committee within the agency, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, is responsible for conducting the assessment of a human medicine for which an EU-wide marketing authorisation is sought.

As part of its scientific evaluation work, this committee reviews the clinical-trial data included in the application. It evaluates the results of clinical trials carried out by pharmaceutical companies to reach its opinion on the authorisation of medicines.

Although the authorisation of clinical trials occurs at member state level, the agency plays a key role in ensuring that the standards of good clinical practice are applied across the European Economic Area in cooperation with the member states.

Assessments are based on purely scientific criteria and determine whether the medicines concerned meet the necessary quality, safety and efficacy requirements in accordance with EU legislation.

Charmaine Gauci, Superintendent for Public Health

Have a health-related question you'd like answered? Email askcharmaine@timesofmalta.com