Parliamentary figures tabled by Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne have revealed that there are currently 26,429 chronic asthma sufferers in Malta as of May 9th 2019.

There have been 3,889 new chronic asthma patients on the island since the start of 2017, which comes up to a rate of roughly five new cases per day.

105 chronic asthma patients have died since the start of the year, with the previous two years recording 324 deaths each. It was not made clear whether the condition was the direct cause behind the passing.

However, over the last few years, Malta has regularly record some of the largest CO2 emission increases in the entire EU while the country also sees worsening air quality.

A report by the European Heart Journal estimated that there are 576 early deaths due to poor air quality, a rate of roughly 137 deaths per 100,000 people.

It would appear that Malta’s constant traffic, over-development and ever-increasing fleet of private cars appears to be catching up with itself.

What do you make of these findings?

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Julian Bonnici

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.