in 9 regions “sanitary deserts”
There shortage of doctors and nurses it’s a common problem. While the Health Secretariat looks to the intramoenia free profession to respond to criticism of the Titan, Italy wonders about what is taking on the contours of a “sanitary desertification” in internal areas of the country. 39 provinces in greatest suffering, which are concentrated in 9 regions, including Emilia Romagna. The others are: Lombardy, Piedmont, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Calabria, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio. Data contained in Active Citizenship Report. In detail, borderline situations emerge: In the province of Caltanissetta, for example, there is one hospital gynecologist for every 40,565 women.
Considering instead hospital cardiologists, the situation in the province of Bolzano is 70 times worse than Pisa, with one professional for every 224,706 inhabitants. In the province of Asti, each family pediatrician follows 1,813 children compared to a national average of 1,061. On the shortage of healthcare personnel, “there is a lack of certified, updated and easily available data” – affirm Cittadinanzattiva – and this does not facilitate the planning of interventions. The problem of ‘health deserts’, then, risks not being covered by the funds of the PNR. In fact, only 16-17% of nursing homes and hospitals will be built in non-performing areas, with the risk of total depletion for the outermost areas of Liguria and Valle D’Aosta.
The forecasts can therefore have the desired effects only if there is an adequate investment in personnel. A few days ago the alarm cry of the councilor of Emilia-Romagna Raffaele Donini, who warned of the risks of a collapse of the national health system. At the same time, especially due to the effects of the pandemic, health spending is increasing, growing on average by 5% from 2020 to 2022, according to the analysis of the Court of Auditors. However, Italy continues to spend less than its European partners.