Sanità e assistenza pubblica alla prova della pandemia : L’esperienza italiana

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the Italian healthcare system. The pandemic not only caused the enactment of extraordinary tools that severely restricted people's freedoms to counteract the spread of the virus, but it also raised the question of the reasons of the very high number of victims, among the highest in the world. Among the causes of the spread of the virus are unpreparedness of the Italian authorities, failure to update the national pandemic plan, lack of coordination amongst the public authorities involved, failure to prepare adequate stocks of medical devices and related supply problems; but also problems that have long been highlighted, such as the lack of attention to primary and local care, to general medicine, to hygiene and occupational medicine. The research aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the national health system and the reaction of the Italian system to the pandemic, to verify recent developments (especially those being financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan), to propose tools and actions to be able to adequately deal with future health emergencies.