Next time, Joseph, put your blood where your mouth is
Joseph Muscat visited the Blood Bank today, with a delegation of Laburisti and his token male homosexual, Cyrus Engerer, on a collar and leash as usual.
It soon became clear that the purpose of this high-profile visit, under the glare of the media lights, was not to highlight the need for more people to give blood so that stocks don’t run out as they do occasionally.
No, the purpose of the visit was nothing so honourable. The purpose was to pull a stunt involving Cyrus Engerer. Did Joseph Muscat show concern about the Blood Bank being in crisis from time to time because people don’t bother to give blood much? Did he ask about storage and operations and blood groups and how much blood is used every week?
Did he hell.
He went there all geared up to challenge the Blood Bank with his stunt called ‘Why aren’t gays allowed to give blood?’
What a prize a**hole. No, really, what a prize one. First of all, there’s the inherent Mediterranean male chauvinism which decrees that the default homosexual is male.
There are no restrictions on lesbians donating blood, Dr Muscat. Your knowledge of sex may be rather limited, but surely even you know that lesbians are one of the lowest risk groups for HIV, lower even than straight women, largely because they don’t have sex with men.
You should also have known, to spare yourself the embarrassment of having it explained to you by the doctor in charge, that the restrictions on blood donation have nothing to do with whether a person is homosexual or heterosexual, but are based on sexual habits and promiscuity. There are restrictions on heterosexual women who sleep around just as there are on homosexual men who sleep around, and for roughly the same reasons.
A gay man who never has sex can donate as much blood as he wants to, and the Blood Bank will thank him for it. A straight woman who earns her living as a prostitute will not be allowed to give blood.
How difficult is this to understand?
Besides which, these are not matters in which politicians should meddle. They are best left to the experts who have to deal with the problems and their consequences: the doctors who look after the blood donation unit. They know what’s best and their expert knowledge should be respected.
And quite frankly, the Labour Party – with its disastrous record of negligence in state hospital blood transfusions in the 1980s, which led to the death of several people – should just stay out of it all the more.
The Labour government of the 1980s, with its abysmal attitude to healthcare and the spending of money, did not bother scanning donated blood for HIV even after HIV made the world headlines.
Because of that criminally irresponsible negligence, several people in Malta contracted HIV through blood transfusions, and eventually died. Two of them were my friends, brothers who were haemophiliac. They both became infected with HIV when receiving routine transfusions, and both were dead within a few years.
But oh, I almost forgot: Joseph Muscat has told us to forget about the past. I suppose that means we should forget how Labour’s track record on scanning donated blood led to the death of the most vulnerable. So we should just sit here quietly instead and listen to Muscat preach about how controls on HIV contamination should be dismantled because Cyrus Engerer said so. The Labour Party, with all that blood on its hands, should be the first to shut up about this except to say ‘Mea maxima culpa’.
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If he didn’t know this basic reason, why is he telling us to believe that he knows what he is doing?
Joseph Muscat, do you get wet if you go outside in the rain?
We have a harsh five years ahead of us if Labour wins.
You know, if I was Joseph, I would hang the person who gives him political advice by his/her short and curlies till after the election.
A seasoned politician does not go to a blood bank to yap about homosexuals. He goes to very publicly donate blood and get as many of his people to do the same as he possibly can.
It might be tacky and blatantly obvious as a look-good exercise, but one cannot fault the sentiment.
He could have also have asked why tattooed people can’t give blood.
I feel sure one of these men has a small one on a cheek.
PS Keep these videoed visits up, Joseph.
How any sane floating voter can choose this muppet after seeing this is beyond belief.
Kieku jaghmel wahda tajba. Amateur. And he wants to be prime minister.
You see, when Joseph Muscat doesn’t have the teleprompter in front of him , he says many stupid things.
I agree with you Daphne and one has to take into account that all the donated blood is first screened for example HIV and other tests.
I know what I am saying because I used to work there as an analyst.
So unfortunately this is another gaffe by our future PM Joe Muscat, who is not aware of what’s going on at the Dipartiment tas -Sahha imbasta morna quddiem Mater Dei – progett iehor tal-Partit Nazzjonalista.
I expect deafening silence from our medical professionals.
Move along, nothing to see here.
[Daphne – The medical professionals were lined up in John Bundy’s igloo tonight. Candidates Chris Fearne the paediatrician and Franco Mercieca the eye surgeon, and ‘speakers’ Joe Zarb Adami the anaesthetist and Charles Griscti the bone surgeon. The latter two have always been Mintoffians, so I hope nobody’s going to run away with the idea that they’ve switched to Labour because of Joseph. They’ve always supported Labour. It’s just that, presumably they were too embarrassed to stand on a truck with Mintoff or KMB, or hang around Sant in public. People like that shock me: if anyone should be able to see the good that the Nationalist Party has done over the last many years, it’s medical specialists working in the state hospital. Presumably Joe Zarb Adami and Charles Griscti think that the Golden Years of St Luke’s under Labour were better than what we’ve got today. Vera arukaza.]
The 2003 was won by the professional bodies publicly declaring their support for EU membership. Back then they did it because the referendum and election were billed as non-partisan, which is a contradiction in terms, seeing as one party made anti-Europeanism its very reason for existence.
Nine years later, and everyone’s jumping ship, supporting – tacitly or otherwise – the craziest, most fake, most cynical (non)election programme ever.
It speaks volumes of our so-called professionals. A professional judgement or an expert opinion is just that, and there’s no reason why it should have changed during these nine years.
By all means, individuals can change their voting intention because they have come to despise Lawrence Gonzi, but PN’s general programme is the natural continuation of that of 2003, so why have the professionals switched?
[Daphne – They haven’t switched. They were always Labour. At least, the ones I mentioned were.]
I don’t mean the individuals, but their organisations. So far, we’ve either had declarations of support for Labour, or silence.
Dear Madame, I assure you that one of those two ‘speakers’ was not too embarrassed to go on trucks with vintage Valletta Mintoffians of the day and others of the Sammy Mielaq type, to refer to his former medical teachers as ‘serpents’ (ref to the medical emblem of the serpent-wreathed staff) and to be amongst the first to appear on the screen of Dardir Malta as a strike breaker at casualty (whilst still a medical student) the day after the Mintoffian regime padlocked the medical school and kicked out of the general hospital those of his medical elders and betters who chose to follow the legitimate directives of their legitimate union.
His motto at the time was ‘democracy is hypocrisy’ and he was a fully paid-up member of Varist’s Marxist Xirka.
Today must have been his public official coming out of the Socialist closet, after 30+ years of hibernation.
In August 1977, he thought it was great fun to lend his white coat and stethoscope to the MLP club in valletta to use it to dress a large model of a clown with full medical regalia with which to ridicule those obeying MAM directives.
I thought that, by now, Muscat’s quota for opportunistic primadonnas in his skip was already full to the brim. Seems I was mistaken. Another soon-to-be karta anzjan holder with strong roots harking from the golden Mintoffian era has just joined in.
[Daphne – I imagine this is Zarb Adami the anaesthetist you’re talking about, and not Charles Griscti. Best be clear about that.]
The very same.
If the Blood Bank abandoned its professional standard in the acceptance of blood donors and adopted that of such “eminent authorities” as Muscat and Cyrus I would prefer to die from hypovolaemic shock rather than take the risk of being transfused by that blood.
Stupid question, but even if 99% of prostitute women and gay men had HIV, what’s wrong with allowing them to donate, scanning the blood and only keeping that with is clean?
[Daphne – Because it’s a waste of time, money and blood for all concerned, that’s why.]
Simpler answer? Because no other country does. I’ve had it up to here with our fricking exceptionalism.
It’s the same reason you wash your hands before preparing food which you’ll be cooking anyway.
Nothing is absolutely 100% safe. It is a matter of statistics – if a screening system blocks 99.99% of infections going through, it is still just a matter of time before somebody will receive the 0.01% which is infected.
A simple questionnaire before donation can eliminate higher risk groups, lowering the chance of infected blood making it through the system down to 0.0001%.
The numbers I used are only examples but I’m sure you get the idea.
The law on blood donation is not Maltese but international WHO recommendations.
Persons who have had an accidental needle prick, IV drug users, tattooing or piercing up to six months prior to donation, promiscuous persons, persons who were residents of the UK during the prion (Mad Cow) epidemic and persons on certain medications are not accepted as donors.
Even though one can test the donated blood, there is a window, i.e. a number of days, weeks or years (in the case of prions) when the test can be negative but the blood can still be infected.
Please remember that if you need a transfusion once in your lifetime, the risk of contracting HIV or the more common but as deadly Hepatitis C, is low. But for those who need regular (monthly) transfusions because of cancer, thalassaemia, MDS, the risk is higher.
The 1980s HIV epidemic arose from infected coagulation factor and not transfusion. This factor was bought from the US, where blood donation, from which the factor was produced, was and still is, paid for. Thus it is very common to find drug users donating blood so as to be paid and use this to purchase.
Apart from changing the manufacturer (late 80s) and spending more money, in the early 90s, a decision was taken to purchase recombinant Factor 8, i.e. produced from bacteria, that is virus free.
It was a good thing that Dr Aquilina had the courage to put Hamburger Joe in his place and not to let this serious issue be used for political ends. In addition the homosexual community should realise that they are being taken for a ride by the Partit tal-Likes.
Because I would not want to be a patient and receive that blood.. which could still be contaminated.
Better safe then sorry.
Would someone please inform Dr. Muscat about the reasoning and research behind these safe practices?
This is similar to him saying that people from the south are suffering from lung cancer and asthma.
He has a doctorate, but he still thinks he can make wild statements without substantiating them. Anything that serves his purpose, however irresponsible and wrong.
Il-ginger’s doctorate relates to public administration of sorts – one would rather say public mal-administration for private gain – and in no way relates to medicine, not even that practised by tribal shemans!
That is one of the reasons – among so many innumerable others – that he “still thinks he can make wild statements without substantiating them”. And not as far as medicine is concerned either.
There is, therefore, no purpose for – or possibility of – seeking any reasoning on his part in whatever he proclaims or dictates on any subject under the sun – and, maybe, even beyond.
HIV has an incubation period of around 2-3 months, which means that antibodies are detected after this period.
There is a window period when some diseases may not show in a blood test, such as hepatitis and HIV.
You may contract hepatitis C today, give blood in two days time and a blood test for hep C would show negative because the body would not have developed antibodies.
It is antibodies for hep C and HIV which are tested for in blood.
You are right about the window but wrong about the testing. Today all viral tests are based on a molecular biology technique called PCR.
This amplifies the DNA or RNA of the virus and thus is more specific and sensitive. But a window, of a few days, where the test can give you a false negative still exists.
As for Mad Cow disease, there is no sensitive blood test.
MLP’s campaign is crumbling. Today’s event at the blood bank clearly manifested this.
Muscat’s only aim was to raise the issue of blood donations by gay men and to say x’arukaza how does government allow such discrimination.
But he found a well informed and prepared blood unit director who gave him all the scientific and technical reasons why homosexual blood donation is high risk.
F’ kelma wahda Muscat hareg b’ idu f’ idu u Cyrus inqatghalu l-ghatx bil-perzuta.
During a news conference held outside Mater Dei today, Muscat was asked about St. Philip’s Hospital and unbelievably he answered that he does not exclude a deal with him or anyone else. Imbasta peclaq u tkaza.
I also do not agree with the proposed delivery of medicines to the elderly over 70, the severely disabled and immobile. It think this will raise the cost of medicines because of fuel, transport and wages and could lead to abuse.
When politicians start promising ‘freebies’, voters will keep in mind that anything that is paid for by taxpayer funds is not actually free, and the more freebies are being promised, the more taxes we will be paying eventually to sustain the freebie goodies.
I have often heard it said that “there is nothing like a FREE lunch”. Woe to him who does not believe that.
Well said, Daphne. RIP, R.M.
He is exactly who came to mind when I read the “blood bank” article on timesofmalta.com today.
After a long and patient explanation, Joseph Muscat kept insisting on “orjentazzjoni”. He could have asked any doctor in his ‘movement’ to tell him what it was all about, instead of making a show in front of the cameras.
This is really very serious.
At least two people could have prevented Muscat from wading into this PR disaster.
George Allahares Vella and Michael Farrugia.
Tony Zammit could also have helped but I will excuse him for very obvious reasons.
Homosexual men with an active, varied sex life, and blood donation just do not go together.
Muscat should have been forewarned.
The fact that he was not is very, very suspicious.
Was he led into a trap by his own men?
It certainly looks like it to me.
You are absolutely right on this one — who should be allowed to donate blood should be left entirely to experts.
Politicians have no business telling medical professionals whose blood they should accept.
This is a health issue not an administrative one.
At this moment, the subject is being discussed on One TV and they are distinguishing between gays in stable relationships and those with many partners.
I can’t understand how the blood bank could have the means to make such distinctions. Decisions have to be taken on the basis of statistics and probabilites and the odds are vastly against gay men donating blood.
Lesbians are a different matter – it’s the way homosexual men have sex that increases the risk of HIV and other STDs, to put it crudely, and not their sexuality as such.
Quite right and lesbians tend to be far less promiscuous than their male counterparts too.
Did Muscat roll up his sleeve and donate blood? No, he didn’t. But he should have.
So to look good to the homosexual lobby he would rather expose the Maltese population to the risk of contaminated blood.
Muscat would have done better had he raised the issue as to why persons who lived in the UK for 6 months (even non consecutive) during a certain period which coincided with mad cow disease, are prohibited from giving blood.
This has led to the exclusion of a large part of the population since so many go to further their studies in the UK or have business interests there, not to mention the expat community that lives in Malta.
If the UK had to take the same approach, no-one would be able to donate blood there. This is an EU rule and like the UK we should seek a derogation from it due to our strong links with the UK.
Surely the chance of contracting mad cow disease are now remote since so much time has passed? Would one rather have no blood supplies at all?
Perhaps there is some good medical reason as to why this rule is still in place – but at the very minimum the question should be asked and those managing the unit know how to answer.
Also in making appeals for donations such appeals should make it clear that not everyone is eligible to donate so that one would inquire first before making the trip to the blood bank only to be told that they cannot donate.
That’s one of the real issues Muscat – not whether Cyrus can donate blood or not.
Mad Cow Disease has a hibernation period of up to 25 years and the peak in the UK has not been achieved yet.
The first and primary rule in medicine is “primum non nocere” – first, do no harm. It can also be stated as “better safe than sorry”.
Actually, the real reasons for the drop of available blood donors in Malta are the high rate of promiscuity and the excessive numbers of piercings (even in children) and tattoos. And this arises from a lack of social education or uncouthness that is rampant.
Missed a trick there did our Joseph. Go to the blood bank and not donate blood? So much for his concern for the sick and dying, could not even afford them a pint of blood.
Muscat would probably faint while donating blood.
https://www.mychoice.pn/Article/2013/01/31/He-knows-so-little-and-knows-it-so-fluently
What a twat! He could have made more sense had he offered to donate a pint to the Blood Bank, and appeal to his followers to do the same.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/elections2013/Muscat-quizzes-blood-bank-consultant-on-donation-ban-for-gays-20130201
Health minister Joe Cassar gives the Labour Party and its leader a much-needed lesson in protocol and good manners.
Joseph’s movement is full of docters of the medical and dental sort. So why, for heaven’s sake, did they allow him to make such a crass misinformed fool of himself?
Where are Drs Deo Debattista, Michael Farrugia, Tony Zammit, Chris Fearne, Charles Griscti, Franco Mercieca, Gorg Vella, Joseph Grech Attard, Censu Moran, etc?
Joe Muscat should not be allowed to play ducks and drakes with public safety.
The politician trying to present himself as the Maltese Martin Luther King of homosexuals had to have the word gay explained to him by a medical expert in the midst of an electoral campaign in front of the cameras.
Progressive indeed.
It is being rumoured that Joseph Muscat refused to donate blood because he feels squeamish at the sight of a needle.
This is false.
After all, he is surrounded by little pricks.
That wasn’t bad at all, Baxxter.
I like it.
And looks at the biggest prick every morning staring at him out of the mirror as he shaves.
I bet you they have little pricks too.
At 5.51 JM says “Skuzani qbadtlek fuq din …” and breaks into a giggle. That’s the giveaway.
Everything is overdone and overstated. Even the extremely loud BLUE tie.
The most telling moment for me was when the doctor in charge explained to Muscat that even people who lived in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s cannot donate blood because of the risk of dormant ‘mad cow’ disease.
Muscat expressed disbelief and cocked his head at Godfrey Farrugia (who lives with Marlene, the first Mrs Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando) near him, who hastily confirmed this.
So Muscat will believe only his lackeys.
[Daphne – And he doesn’t prepare for these visits, except in terms of the stunt he wants to pull.]
I think this was an exercise intended for the illiterates i.e. to try an show that the PN is discriminating against gay persons. I think that the doctors within the Labour camp are a lot of dishonest men because they should have told Muscat not to meddle with medical issues.
A perfect incompetent PM wannabe. How the heck does he come up with such a dangerous statement challenging proven good medical practice that has helped Malta keep HIV from blood transfusions to ZERO.
He must be surrounded by dangerous incompetents.
My conclusion from this is that Joseph is irresponsible enough to put the general public’s health in serious danger for the sake of making that scum Cyrus Engerer smile.
The entourage Joseph has from the medical profession should resign if they have any self respect, or have him resign, if they have the guts.
No, he is surrounded by medical doctors who believe that they should have been promoted to higher levels that they did not deserve or obtain a permit to build on ODS land that was refused.
Basically opportunist that are ready even to break their Hippocratic oath (by not clearly stating the truth abouth medical facts and evidence based medicine) just to obtain personal gains.
The doctor who manages the blood bank has already explained all this and more.
People in high-risk groups are excluded from donating blood.
That includes homosexual men who are sexually active and the good doctor himself because he lived in the UK during a critical period when ‘mad cow’ disease took root.
Chris Fearne hails from a Rahal il-Gdid family of diehard Mintoffjani.
“During a meeting with representatives of the LGBT community, Dr Muscat said his government would have someone specifically politically responsible for the sector.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130204/elections-news/consultative-council-to-draft-law-on-civil-unions.456186
I guess it’s going to be known unofficially in Labour’s corridors of power as il-Ministeru tal-Pufti.