Update: MAM has said that all of its members working in public health fully complied with the one hour strike this morning in protest to undue interference without scientific basis from other ministeries.

The Association said that public health doctors work includes coordination of the public health response to Covid-19. They normally perform administrative work, organise and participate in swabbing centres, actively perform, track and tracing or Covid cases.

All other data collection and analysis with regards to Covid-19 leading to scientific advice is also done by these doctors who are specialised in epidemiology which is the science of controlling epidemic, the MAM said.

Earlier this morning, in a joint statement, the Medical Association of Malta and the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine, said that “public health decisions must always have sound scientific basis.”

They added that “recent comments made by an MTA Director instructing establishments how to circumvent Legal Notices meant to protect the public’s health is one of many examples of how certain lobbies are continuously attempting to undermine the efforts made by public health professionals to bring this pandemic under control.”

They argued that “this is just the tip of the iceberg of constant attacks against the public health profession whose only interest is the public’s wellbeing.”

MAM/MAPHM went on to say, “we can no longer work in an environment where we are constantly undermined and called fear mongers, and we cannot be made responsible for the failure of the government to prioritise the population’s wellbeing over the short-term economic interests of the few.”

Public Health Medicine doctors, together with many others, have been working tirelessly day and night, 7 days a week, and away from their normal duties for the last 6 months to attempt to control this pandemic, they said.

The added that “our advice based on scientific evidence has been proven to be effective, since the pandemic was well under control in the beginning of summer.”

The statement stressed that “as Public Health experts we had proposed a transparent framework based on an evidence-based risk assessment with clear thresholds to follow which would allow certain establishments and activities to restart with mitigation measures.”

“This was meant to be a dynamic system which would react quickly to changes in the number of new cases,” they said. “Instead of following this plan, government decided not to publish it and go against all reasonable public health advice.”

“The result is that we are now witnessing a resurgence in cases which is worse than we had in April and May,” They reiterated that, “this virus is not something that we can wish away, or trick into submission.”

The doctors stressed that “it is a real threat against our way of living, and unless we control it using tried and trusted public health measures, we will continue to lose control and end up in an even worse situation than we are in now.”

“To highlight this issue,” the statement said that doctors working within the Covid-19 Response team which includes Public Health Medicine specialists, Specialist Trainees and Foundation Doctors will be protesting against the government’s handling of this pandemic by striking between 8am-9am this morning, with the exception of doctors working at the Testing Centres.

MAM/MAPHM concluded by saying that “unless the public health authorities are allowed to function without undue influence and pressures, there will be consequences on the population’s wellbeing which none of us wish to even dream of.”

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