Osservasalute 2015: for the first time in history, the life expectancy of Italians is decreasing. Blame the lack of prevention, cuts and staff reductions. Cozza (Fp Cgil Medici): "Now we need a strong health policy"
It had never happened before in Italy: the life expectancy of citizens is decreasing. The reasons must be sought above all in the lack of prevention and, according to the Fp Cgil Medici, in the cuts made and in the poor management of the health system in our country.
The data contained in the Osservasalute Report this year, in short, appear worrying, and tell of a country where the crisis is paid dearly, even with health. In 2015, life expectancy for men was 80.1 years, 84.7 years for women, explains Walter Ricciardi, director of the regional health observatory, which draws up the report each year. In 2014, however, life expectancy at birth was higher and equal to 80.3 years for men and 85.0 years for women. The trend involved all regions.
"Even this year - write the managers of the Observatory based at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome - the analyzes point out numerous critical elements, as they confirm the decreasing trend of public resources available for health care, the increase incidence of some preventable cancers, the scarce resources allocated to prevention and the persistent inequities that plague the country and the health sector".
It's not a casuality, because public health expenditure went from 112.5 billion euros in 2010 to 110.5 in 2014. This drop coincided with a slow but steady reduction in regional deficits. But it was largely determined by the blockage or reduction of health personnel and the containment of health care consumption. In 2014, the number of beds in hospitals was in fact equal to 3.04 per 1,000 inhabitants for the acute component and 0.58 per 1,000 for the post-acute, long-term and rehabilitation component, all values lower than the regulatory standards. At the same time, personnel expenditure in relation to the population decreased by 4.4% between 2010-2013, going from a value of €606.9 to €580.1.
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In short, the cuts weigh on citizens' health. The analysts who compiled the report put it plainly: “Compared to the health conditions of the population, in 2014 115.8 new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed for every 100,000 men, or about 34,500 new cases, for the other gender this incidence is equal to 80.3 per 100,000 women, corresponding to over 25,000 new cases. Breast cancer has recorded over 55,000 new diagnoses, or 175.7 new cases per 100,000 women per year. In the face of these alarming data, investment in prevention in our country is still very low. The OECD (2013) shows that our country allocates only 4.1% of total health expenditure to prevention activities, a share that places us in a close position among the 30 countries in the OECD area”.
Data confirmed by Censis, according to which health care is denied to 9 million Italian citizens. And, also for this reason, our country ranks last in the world for prevention. Health care cuts have also had a big impact on this situation.
“Historically our country has invested little in this sector – he says Massimo Cozza, national secretary of the CGIL Medici Public Function in an interview with the newspaper “Il Manifesto” -. And today hospital beds are being reduced. We have about half the seats of France. By funding more places, prevention could be increased. “But it is a broken healthcare system, also because there are twenty-one regional healthcare systems and you are treated better depending on the city in which you live – concludes Cozza -. There is a need to resume a strong and uniform health policy on the national territory. It is the only remedy to counter the phenomenon of health migration from South to North”.
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