The Regions are the Great Almoners of Health. They are exploding with health and with kickbacks as has been revealed by the investigations in Abruzzo. What’s the cost for the Italians of kick-backs on health? Most of the Regions’ spending goes on health. The cabinet member for health is the most important person in the Cabinet together with the President of the Region. Health is the new Eldorado for politicians and for the mafia. A river of public money. All under control and all uncontrolled in reality as has been demonstrated by the case of the Santa Rita clinic in Milan. Health means money in cash for politicians and for organised crime, a St Patrick’s Well. The new frontier for the assault on public money. “Sanitopoli”. {Health-gate} For a sick person, federal Italy is already a reality. If you live in the South or in the islands you almost always have to emigrate to the North to get treatment or you can die where you are.
On 4 October 2009, a Movement of People will be brought into being, in which every person will have a weight, without local Mafia bosses, “mandamenti”, sections, provincial structures, regional structures, cards, factions. The programme of the Movement will be presented under 7 headings: Energy, Health, Transport, Economy, Information, Education and the State and the citizens. Today I am publishing the proposal for “Health” to get your feedback.

HEALTH
Italy is one of the few countries with universal access to the public health system However, two facts are undermining the basis of universality and the homogeneousness of the National Health Service: devolution, that is entrusting the health service to the Regions and its financing and accentuates the differences across the territory, and private health that removes resources and talent from the public service. Furthermore, there’s a tendency to organise Health like a company and to give more emphasis to economic objectives rather than those for health and the quality of services.
Free treatment and equity of access
- guarantee universal free access to essential services of the National Health Service
- charge according to income for non-essential services
- monitor and correct the effects of devolution on the fairness of access to Health Services
Pharmaceuticals
- promote the use of generic drugs without limitations of patents, equivalent to those that are less costly than the branded products (that in Italy often cost more than they do abroad) and safer than newly approved products
- medical prescription for the active ingredients rather than the brand name of each product (as happens for example in Great Britain)
Information
- ongoing Independent public education programme on the correct use of drugs, on the risks involved and the benefits
- cultural national health policies that promote healthy living and well-informed consumer choices to develop the self-management of health (operating on the risk factors and protection from illness) and simple home cures
-information about primary prevention (healthy nutrition, physical activity no smoking) and on the limits of secondary prevention (screening, early diagnosis, predictive medicine), redimensioning its reach as often it is responding to commercial logic
- system of measuring the quality of hospital interventions (success rates, mortality, volume of cases treated etc.) in the public domain
Doctors
- prohibit financial incentives to representatives of drug companies on the sale of drugs
-have separate careers for public and private doctors. Don’t allow a doctor who works in public structures to work privately
- give incentives to doctors to remain in the public sector. Connect this to merit and fix maximum tariffs to what can be charged in private settings
- criteria of merit and transparency in promoting consultants
Organization
- waiting lists that are public and online
- use of single booking centres to be used online
- agreements with private structures to be made public and viewable online
- invest in family clinics
- limit the influence of health service directors of primary and secondary care facilities by bringing back the Boards of Directors
Fighting Pain
- bring Italy into line with the other countries of Europe and with the directives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the fight against pain. In particular for the use of opiates (morphine and similar products)
Research
- possibility of choosing to devote the 8 per thousand income tax contribution to medical-scientific research
- independent financing of research by accessing money destined for military research
- promote and finance research on the effects on health, especially research connected to social inequalities and environmental pollution giving priority to independent researchers
- promote research into rare illnesses and finance any treatment that is needed abroad if there is no national provision
- in accordance with the WHO recommendations, bring in at Government, central and regional levels, a way of assessing the impact on health of public policies, and particularly for the sectors of transport, urban planning, the environment, and work and education
Public Administrators
- elimination of incinerators
- introduction of the crime of slaughter for perceptible and widespread damage caused by local and national policies that give rise to illness and death of the citizens in relation to the public administrators (Ministers, Presidents of the Regions, Mayors, Cabinet members )

Previous points: Energy, State and citizens, Information, Economy and Transport