Mur Lura
Speech by The Hon. Dr. Louis Deguara, Minister of Health, AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE 3RD MALTESE INFECTION CONTROL AND ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY CONFERENCE 2001 - 11th December 2001
pr1878
11/12/2001
11/12/2001
| It is again a pleasure to be invited to open the Third Maltese | Conference on Infection Control and Antibiotic Therapy. It was only twelve short months ago that I was here at the previous event outlining my ministry’s plans for the year about to end. As you will remember important goals for the year 2001 concentrated predominantly on waste management and antibiotic resistance. In fact, over the past twelve months, significant progress has been made in these two key issues. |
| Much has been written and said about the management | of health care waste in Malta and in particular in St. Luke’s Hospital. We are now, thanks to the initiatives and efforts of the Infection Control Unit, in a much better position than we were a year ago. In fact during the past twelve months, the health division has formulated and now published a comprehensive clinical waste management plan that will serve as the template for future policies and initiatives. |
| Significant success has already been achieved in | waste separation and minimisation at source. For the first time, a hospital waste manager has been appointed. Orders for the procurement of effective waste storage and transportation equipment have been finalised thereby allowing effective segregation between clinical and non-clinical waste to be achieved. The Infection Control Unit has also undertaken a training campaign amongst all groups of healthcare workers through lectures and publication of educational material. |
| However we realise that, at least for the general | public, progress has to be tangible. We regret that despite our earnest efforts, St. Luke’s chimney has not yet been de-commissioned. It must be appreciated that the procurement of such a highly specialised piece of equipment is often associated with above-average delays. We have throughout the process insisted on a fully transparent tender and the procurement of the system best adapted to the local circumstances. As a result an open ended tender was issued to include as many technologies as possible. In addition, since local technical expertise in these technologies was limited, we enlisted the consultancy services of foreign experts in the field. |
| All this, as well as the unavoidable bureaucracy of | the tender system, meant an unavoidable delay. However the tender is being adjudicated at the Department of Contracts, work should start on the dismantling as early as possible in the next year. |
| My ministry has also undertaken numerous initiatives | coincident with the worldwide effort currently being addressed towards the ever-increasing problem of antibiotic resistance. In fact following the report of an inter-disciplinary working group, a National Committee on Antibiotic Use was set up during this year. The department, through the Infection Control Unit, has also been invited to participate in numerous initiatives by the European Union, especially in two new European projects in this field. |
| As a result of our involvement in the European | Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Study, we have upgraded our surveillance methods in antibiotic resistance and are now able to benchmark our current situation and compare it with that of our European neighbours. Because antibiotic resistance is so often inter linked with the use of anitmicrobials, we have also been pleased to accept an invitation to participate in a pan European Study on Antibiotic Consumption. |
| This should, for the first time, provide accurate | data on the local trends on the use of these important medicines. These initiatives are direct results of our EU pre-accession programme and will benefit both Maltese doctors and patients. An antibiotic campaign including a number of educational initiatives towards both the health care professions as well as the general public will be funded in the coming year. |
| I will like to conclude by wishing you a fruitful | conference. I encourage you to undertake an in depth discussion into these topical and vital issues and look forward to receiving the feedback of your deliberations. |
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