Health poverty on the rise, 500,000 Italians asked for help to buy medicines

Health poverty is on the rise, with many citizens finding it increasingly difficult to pay out of their own pocket for pharmaceutical expenses not covered by the National Health Service: the co-payment for medicines and over-the-counter products. In the current year 501,922 people (8.5 residents per 1,000) found themselves in this condition. This means that they had to ask for help from one of the 2,034 charities affiliated with Banco farmaceutico in order to receive free medicines and treatments that they would otherwise not have been able to afford. Compared to 463,176 in 2024, there was an increase of 8.4 per cent.

Putting the numbers on this phenomenon in a row is the 12th Report 'Donate to cure. Health Poverty and Drug Donation", produced by Opsan - Observatory on Health Poverty (Banco farmaceutico's research body), presented in Rome during a conference promoted by Banco farmaceutico and the Italian Drug Agency. The report was realised thanks to the unconditional contribution of Ibsa Italy and Aboca. People in health poverty are predominantly men (51.6% of the sample, compared to 48.4% of women) and adults (18-64 years old, equal to 58%). Particularly important is the share of minors, who number 145,557 (i.e. 29%), more than the elderly, who account for 21.8% (109,419). Considering health conditions, the acutely ill (56%) outnumber the chronically ill (44%). In 2024 (Aifa data), the total pharmaceutical expenditure of households is EUR 23.81 billion, 171 million more (+0.7%) than in 2023 (when expenditure was EUR 23.64 billion). Of this, however, only 13.65 billion (57.3%) is borne by the SSN (in 2023 it was 12.99, or 56%). This leaves 10.16 billion (42.7%) paid entirely by households (in 2023 it was 10.65, or 44%). Although there was a decrease in this type of expenditure between 2023 and 2024 (-4.6%), in 7 years (i.e. between 2018 and 2024) it grew by 1.78 billion (+21.26%). In 2018, the share borne entirely by households was EUR 8.37 billion.

In 2024 - according to the latest available ISTAT data - almost 1 in 10 people (9.9 per cent) gave up visits or specialist examinations in the previous 12 months. 6.8 per cent of the population gave up mainly because of long waiting lists, while 5.3 per cent (or 3.1 million people) did so for economic reasons (a figure that is 1.1 per cent higher than in 2023). "The data on health poverty," says Sergio Daniotti, president of the Banco farmaceutico Foundation, "once again paint a worrying picture for thousands of families. Banco farmaceutico helps those who cannot afford it to get treatment, practising free care thanks to the support and together with thousands of volunteers, pharmacists, companies and citizens. But a cure made up of genuine attention to the needs and dignity of those in poverty cannot be limited to the necessary immediate response to need: it must be understood in depth, also through in-depth cultural and scientific work. Because the deeper the knowledge, the more effective the responses will be'.