Family Doctors/General Practitioners have said that as Malta enters the winter months they are seeing more patients attending their private clinics and Health Centres.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Malta College of Family Doctors said that an increasing number of people have health concerns related to the seasonal surge of respiratory tract infections expected as the temperature cools.

“Many individuals have health concerns which were postponed during the past months and there is a noticeable rise in symptoms related to both the stress and the lack of exercise that the past months forced upon many of us,” the MCFD said.

On one hand, family doctors continue to be available in the current circumstances to preserve the physical, social and psychological wellbeing of all citizens, MCFD said. “All the other medical conditions, over and above the current numbers of SARS-CoV-2 infections, continue to affect the health of those involved and their families, and these must be given their due attention.”

On the other hand, the MCFD warned that the period around Christmas and the New Year celebrations “cannot be like last summer, when most caution was thrown aside by many, with a subsequent surge in the number of Covid-19 positive cases.”

It stressed that “the higher the number of cases, the higher the risk of admissions in hospital and death of vulnerable people, the larger the number of people in quarantine, the greater the number of people off work and the further the lack of income in already difficult financial times for a substantial part of the population.”

MCFD encouraged all to heed the advice of the Superintendence of Public Health and restrict celebrations to within the same household so as to protect the vulnerable, including the elderly. “The means and technologies of yesterday and today can be used to maintain the social contacts that we all crave and currently miss.”

The MCFD also noted the questions raised by an increasing number of patients about Covid-19 vaccines with family doctors. The MCFD pointed out that vaccination and not merely the availability of vaccines can, together with disciplined social restrictions and wearing face masks, protect the vulnerable and help us to come out of the pandemic.

The MCFD went on to encourage citizens “to consult their caring physician to get the up-to-date information about the available vaccines and subsequent vaccination; conversely citizens are to be wary of fake news and hoax.”

The Mcfd concluded by saying that “it is very important, especially now, that patients learn to recognise mild viral illnesses, and are equipped with the knowledge and the confidence to ‘self-care’ for mild illnesses, or those of their loved ones.”

The MCFD has published a free ‘Self-Care’ guide for the general public. Self-care means treating mild illnesses at home, using rest, nutrition, and sometimes over-the-counter medicines.

It said that “self-care helps avoid the spread of infections in crowded waiting rooms, minimises unnecessary use of medications, and helps reduce the burden on health care services.”

The Malta College of Family Doctors (MCFD) is a Voluntary Organisation that strives to improve the academic and clinical performance of family doctors (known as “it-tobba tal-familja” or “general practitioners”) and the standards of primary health care in our country. www.mcfd.org.mt

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