What Italians expect from the NHS: for 72% cancer screening is a priority
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More than work and expensive energy, health and healthcare are the priorities indicated by 55% of citizens interviewed by Ipsos for the opinion poll “Priorities and expectations of Italians for a new NHS”. Among the main emergencies that emerged related to oncological screening indicated by the interviewees as an area in which greater commitment is needed, especially in the North-West and among women. A figure that makes it easier to understand why one Italian out of three believes that Article 32 of the Constitution, which establishes health as a fundamental right of the individual, is not fully respected today. The survey was presented in Rome during the fifth edition of the Inventing for Life Health Summit, this year dedicated to the theme “Investing for Life: health matters”, organized by Msd Italia to explore the key topics of health policies in Italy .
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The urgency of investing in screening
Among the topics covered by the survey, prevention is considered an area in which to invest urgently. When asked to choose the two most important areas, Italians indicated oncology in 72% of cases followed by metabolic diseases (30%) and then by HIV (28%) and hepatitis C (27%). “After the pandemic – he explained Nando Pagnoncelli, president of Ipsos – we are back to normal and it is natural that people start worrying about prevention again. Also in this survey, therefore, the area of oncology remains the most urgent, especially in the North West and among women”. The Hon. also spoke on the subject during the event. Vanessa Cattoi, member of the V Commission of the Chamber of Deputies: “The data tell us that cancer cases will increase by almost 25% by 2035, becoming the main cause of death in the EU. Precisely because we are fully aware of this urgency, we have included in the scheduling of the works in the Chamber of Deputies the signing of the motion on oncological diseases with the group ‘Health: an asset to defend, a right to promote’. The theme of oncology is at the center of the national and international scene and has no political color. So first of all we are committed to the full implementation of the just approved National Oncology Plan”.
Health and healthcare on the political agenda and in the media
Although these areas are the most important for citizens, recognition of the strategic value of healthcare and, more generally, of health seems to be less strong on the country’s political agenda; as well as the media coverage dedicated to health issues, which went from 80% in the first months of 2020 (AGCOM data) to an absolutely residual share today. “After the pandemic emergency – commented Pagnoncelli – the health issue is consolidated as a priority in Government actions, the reinforcement of the public health offer in support of citizens in a moment of economic difficulty for families. Prevention, patient centrality and digital transformation continue to be important issues”.
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The role of local medicine
The role of territorial medicine is crucial, with the general practitioner and the pharmacy at the centre. “The lightened emergency pressure on public opinion – continued Pagnoncelli – slightly reduces the level of confidence in vaccination coverage but does not significantly affect the image of the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. The recognition of the contribution of research and development is weakening a little, as is that of the role of the pharmaceutical in the economic recovery of the country, a natural consequence of a lower media presence in the sector”.
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Eliminate waiting lists
The priorities on which Italians believe that the National Health Service should focus have also changed: if in 2021 one of the three priorities was home care (preferable due to the health emergency due to Covid), today the hospital care. On the other hand, prevention and first aid remain at the top of the list of priorities. “Health care and our national health system are the country’s priority – declared theHon. Elena Bonetti, member of the XII Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The new emergencies that Covid-19 has brought about and the pre-existing ones that the pandemic has only highlighted and aggravated must find a structural response of planning and intervention. We need more staff and an efficient reorganization, starting from the urgent need to eliminate waiting lists for diagnostic tests, which puts the three axes of investments in training, territorial medicine and excellence into a system. The PNRR alone is not enough. What we need is to go back to thinking and seriously planning Italian health care, because the right to health requires an effective, efficient and up-to-date political response to today’s needs, also in consideration of the process of demographic change we are witnessing”.
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Making up for the delays caused by the pandemic
What emerges loud and clear from all the experts gathered in Rome is the need to go beyond the accounting approach to the issue of the right to health. “Today the priorities are the recruitment of health personnel and the improvement of their professional treatment and working conditions. We need to overcome the limited number in the Faculty of Medicine and relaunch the Specialization Schools and define a Healthcare system that sees greater integration between the hospital and the territory, with an increase in home care services “, declared theHon. Ugo Cappellacci, President XII Social Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. “It is necessary to overcome the limits of contracted healthcare to address the issue of waiting lists and address the situation of the Emergency Department, regarding which a table has been set up at the Ministry of Health”.
Public and private hand in hand
Only 16% of the population recognizes a very positive evaluation of the national health system, and only 24% of the health system of the region to which they belong. Data down compared to 2021. Half of the population, especially in the North, agrees on the need to strengthen the public health system and 29% expect the new government to intervene in favor of public health rather than private health. About 2 out of 5 Italians believe that Italy spends less on public health than the rest of Europe, despite the fact that for 76% it should be a strategic priority for the country, especially for women and the over 35s. to health care – declared theAlessandro Cattaneo, member of the XIV Commission of the Chamber of Deputies – should not be conceived as an expense but as an investment in the health of Italians which, let us not forget, is a fundamental right, constitutionally protected. We have clear ideas, also with respect to the necessary enhancement of the partnership between the public and private sectors. We work to keep the commitments made with the Italians”.
The NHS and the pharmaceutical industry
Two out of five Italians recognize the fundamental importance of the Research & Development effort in the fight against Covid-19. However, it is down compared to 2021. Approximately 70% of Italians had a positive opinion of the pharmaceutical industry before Covid-19. After the health emergency, this opinion remained the same among 63% of the population. “Only one virus – he began Nicoletta Luppi, president and CEO of Msd Italia – was able to bring world economies to their knees; if today we are experiencing a phase of new normality it is also thanks to the extraordinary commitment of the Research and Development of pharmaceutical companies – together with virtuous Public-Private Partnerships which should be maintained and consolidated for an increasingly resilient, inclusive and sustainable health governance”.
The new ‘humanism’ of scientific research
At the center of the debate during the institutional event, also the theme of research and innovation considered a strategic driving force for the economic, industrial and social development of our country. The investments already planned between 2021 and 2026 are equal to 1,300 billion euros worldwide, +10% compared to the projections prior to the pandemic. “The progress achieved in the field of regenerative medicine, neuroimmunology, robotics and artificial intelligence – explained Maria Chiara Carrozza, president of the National Research Council – are already revolutionary, because they are the result of a vision that has been able to go further. And even more so in the future. It is necessary to move within the perspective of a balanced system between healthcare, translational and basic research; public and private subjects, innovation and assistance. Without forgetting that the person must always be at the center of medical progress: this is the first step towards the realization of a new humanism, in which scientific evidence represents the method and service to humanity the goal”.
Dealing with Healthcare
The experts gathered in the beautiful setting of the Ara Pacis could not fail to touch on the topics of inflation, the energy crisis and the uncertainties caused by the Ukrainian conflict which forced the Government to allocate almost three quarters of the resources available in the Budget Law to finance measures against high energy costs in support of businesses and households. The Budget Law provides for an increase in the National Health Fund which recognizes the strategic value of Healthcare and, more generally, of Health, but not such as to ensure Italian citizens the same guarantees (in terms of health care) available to citizens Europeans. And we cannot fail to underline that the recent update note to the DEF highlights a worrying decrease in the health expenditure financing ratio compared to GDP, destined to drop from 7.4% to 6.1% in 2025. “Research undoubtedly represents a opportunity for care for today’s and tomorrow’s citizens with positive economic and social implications for a nation – he underlined Marcello Cattani, president of Farmindustria. In recent decades, Italy has lagged behind its international competitors, because it has invested little and has not resolved some bureaucratic hitches. But it can count on absolute excellence, starting from human resources and going as far as the university. This is the time to take a decisive leap forward. The recent release of the implementing decrees on the regulation on European clinical trials is a good sign, which must be followed up quickly in order to be able to attract ever greater investments and to strengthen the pharmaceutical supply chain, the real spearhead of our nation”.
Looking for bold solutions
Is it time to rethink public spending and budget priorities in favor of the human health and health technologies sector? A question that the numerous experts present at the event tried to answer: “It is necessary to support greater investment in research and health in our country, even by making courageous choices”, declared the Senator Maria Domenica Castellone, Vice-President of the Senate of the Republic. For example, new reporting models can be studied for some expenditure items of the public budget, such as those destined for vaccine prevention and the development of innovative therapies. It is, in fact, a current expenditure which develops its value over time, producing future benefits, and which should be accompanied by more effective planning with the aim of ensuring that all people have homogeneous access to treatment and assistance healthcare”.
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