Enhancement of the role of the specialist, increase in early diagnosis and reorganization of management to respond to the needs of the 5.4 million Italians affected by rheumatological diseases.
These are the main themes of Bill No. 946 on the 'Reorganization and strengthening of health services in the rheumatology field', presented in the Senate - with the Minister of Disabilities Alessandra Locatelli and the Undersecretary of Health Marcello Gemmato - on the proposal of the Vice President of the Maria Cristina Cantù Health Commission.
These are pathologies that are on the rise and often affect people of working age, thus impacting the quality of life and the costs borne by the community.
The objective is to strengthen the entire care pathway, from prevention to treatment, with the implementation of an integrated hospital-territory rheumatology network.
It is, Gemmato explained, the "second most prevalent pathology in Italy, with over 5 million rheumatological patients of which 734 thousand are seriously ill, with an enormous impact also in terms of spending on the National Health Fund.
Early diagnosis and management of these patients is therefore fundamental, considering that there are 200 different types of rheumatological diseases.
The objective of the bill is the best care and also savings, therefore treating people better and as an induced effect saving the state coffers by making our NHS sustainable". The desirable objective, he added, "is the creation of a link between hospital and territory, with a greater offer of social and health services that operate as close as possible to citizens.
Today there are numerous critical issues that are encountered, including great disparity in treatment and high costs". The bill, explains Cantù, "provides for the care of patients through an integrated approach by the rheumatologist and the general practitioner with a guarantee of updating the essential levels of services, to ensure rapid diagnoses and specific treatments".
One of the points on which "it is most important to intervene - underlines Gian Domenico Sebastiani, president of the Italian Society of Rheumatology - is the diagnostic delay, which causes a worsening of health conditions, the accumulation of irreversible damage and high social costs. The treatments Current pharmacological treatments, in fact, are able to achieve the objective of remission and are much more effective when they are established promptly".
This requires "greater attention also from family doctors, who often visit their patients first and must quickly refer them to the local rheumatologist specialist. We therefore need - he concludes - to strengthen rheumatological care in local clinics and hospital facilities ".
And for the president of the National Association of people with rheumatic and rare diseases (Apmarr), Silvia Toniolo, this is an "epochal turning point for rheumatological patients. We now ask that this bill be approved unanimously and that the Regions have a path shared without creating inequality of access".
Locatelli, the priority is to treat the person and not just the disease. To guarantee patients also social aspects and daily life
The priority is not only "to treat patients, but also to guarantee their dignity, the social dimension and life in their daily lives. That is, we must treat the person and not just their illness".
This was underlined by the Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, speaking in the Senate at the presentation of Bill no. 946 regarding the 'Reorganization and strengthening of health services in the rheumatology field'.
"This is a very important bill - said the minister - because it is essential to talk about the relevance and strong impact that some diseases, such as rheumatological ones, have, even if they are often 'invisible' diseases. Bring it to the attention of the Senate all this denotes a path that is opening up: that is, we must also consider the human aspects, as a person must not be represented only through the label of his illness or disability".
This means, added Locatelli, that "we need to take care of the person even in carrying out their daily life; patients need care but the social aspect and the dynamics of everyday life must also be considered, which is often set aside."
On the one hand, therefore, "the recognition of these pathologies with a reorganization of the paths is crucial, but on the other hand we need to change the perspective and think that those who have an illness or a disability are first and foremost a person".
It is, concluded the minister, "a social and civilizational battle to be fought all together".
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