MAPHM.com - Message from the President, 2009

It is a pleasure and honour to welcome our colleagues and friends to the first website on public health in Malta set up by the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine. This site represents a dream come true for the many hard working council members of our association over the years who have always wished to have this means of communication between colleagues and with others to further our aim of promoting health among the public in the Maltese Islands and beyond.

The recent Annual General Meeting of our Association saw two revolutionary steps taken in the development of our status in Malta. The first was the result of our discussion about the need for a more open engagement in Public Health beyond the confines of our Association members and particularly, with other professionals with a common public health interest.

We appear to have hit on the right formula to ensure that, while MAPHM full members retain their identity as medical doctors in their own association, they could find a way to become equal members in an organisation that caters for all disciplines within public health. Thus we can proudly proclaim to have almost unanimously approved a move that will create the first ever Federation of Public Health in Malta. MAPHM has every intention of being an active member in this Federation which will also welcome members of other professionals, either as individuals or as organisations. As the nitty gritty details still have to be ironed out, we will reserve further discussion on this until the first ad hoc committee, which will pave the way for this organisation, meets and sets the ball rolling.

The other main outcome of the last AGM was our unanimous decision to fine tune our statute in such a way as to enable us to claim official status as a not-for-profit organisation and thus make us eligible for funding as a voluntary organisation.

This will not mean that certain paid jobs or projects cannot be undertaken by us as an organisation but simply that certain criteria will determine the extent to which the Association could make an overall profit on such initiatives. In the coming months, MAPHM will be setting out to strengthen our continuing medical education programme such that we can look forward to aligning this with those of our colleagues in the UK and elsewhere.

Budgetary conditions affecting our previous EU sources and those of the University of Malta have set us back but we feel confident that this is only a temporary obstacle. On another front, we will be discussing with health authorities in Malta to ensure that the recent limitations in appointments and relocations of public health officers within government service will be lifted as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we are urging all our members to become ever more active within our organisation and to volunteer their support to enable us to promote health via a number of ways.

These could include a stronger media presence, more regular workshops and conferences and a greater voice at consultative level across government and other organisations active in this arena.

I wish to thank the many persons who have helped us to develop this site and who have contributed or will contribute in the months and years ahead, in order to sustain the MAPHM in its goals through this medium. Special thanks to Dr. Tony Gatt for his critical contribution and to Dr. Nadine Delicata who has kindly agreed to be editor of these first editions.

Meanwhile, allow me to thank publicly all those past and present who have dedicated their time and energy to promote public health via the MAPHM committee for their dedication and commitment to their belief in this noble cause.