Deep regional inequalities persist in the provision of essential health services in Italy.
The situation is captured by the Ministry of Health's official monitoring based on the indicators of the New Guarantee System (NSG), analyzed in detail in the latest report from the Gimbe Foundation for 2023, the last year available.
According to the data, eight Regions are non-compliant with the Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA), having failed to reach the minimum threshold of 60 points out of 100 in at least one of the three macro-areas monitored: prevention, district assistance, and hospital assistance.
The overall national average score stands at 226 points out of 300, but with very marked differences between the regions.
Sardinia also fits into this context, having achieved a total score of 192 points in 2023, well below the national average.
The Region is formally compliant according to the NSG, but the data highlights significant critical issues in all evaluation areas.
Specifically, for collective prevention and public health, the score is 65 points, 33 less than Veneto and the Autonomous Province of Trento, which lead the ranking. For district healthcare, Sardinia scores 67 points, 29 less than Veneto. The data for hospital care is even more critical, with 60 points placing Sardinia second to last nationally, 37 points behind the Autonomous Province of Trento, which ranks first.
Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation, spoke on the topic, highlighting how the current funding system contributes to fueling inequality.
"National healthcare needs are distributed to the regions based on their resident population, partly weighted by age. To finance the Essential Levels of Healthcare Services, however, resources should cover the costs necessary to guarantee them uniformly across the country," he explained.
According to Cartabellotta, the inability to finance the actual costs of healthcare LEPs with currently available resources has prompted the government to abandon their definition, equating them to the Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA) to accelerate the process of differentiated autonomy.
"A shortcut," he emphasized, "that risks making regional inequalities in the enforceability of the right to healthcare legally acceptable."
A situation that, according to the president of Gimbe, is already having concrete consequences for citizens: "In many areas of the country," he concluded, "today, essential healthcare services and benefits are not available in a timely manner, and people are often forced to travel to other regions for treatment."
(Unioneonline/Fr.Me.)
