Mental health, now that the Plan is there, let's think about implementing it and monitoring interventions
The transition from the guidelines to the resources put in place by the budget law is a first step: the challenge now is the approval of the implementing decrees to create a structural and lasting programme with the third sector as well
Two months after the approval of the National Action Plan for Mental Health (Pansm) on 28 December 2025 in the Unified State-Regions Conference, the debate no longer concerns only the strategic contents of the document, but its concrete implementation on the ground. The Pansm represents a passage that has been awaited for years: a unitary framework aimed at reducing territorial fragmentation, strengthening the integration between services and the territory, and putting mental health back at the centre of national health planning. The Plan's value lies in having defined clear priorities: prevention and early diagnosis, strengthening psychological and psychotherapeutic intervention, integration between child neuropsychiatry, adolescent and adult psychiatry, strengthening the role of Community Homes and the multidisciplinary approach.
Money and personnel are needed
However, no reorganisation can be said to be effective without adequate financial support and a structured plan to strengthen personnel. This was the focus of the work of the Ministerial Technical Table set up on 27 April 2023 by the Minister of Health, to which experts, professionals and representatives of the Third Sector contributed.
In this context, Progetto Itaca participated in the hearings from the very beginning, bringing the experience gained in the prevention programmes in schools, in the support paths for patients and families and in the social and work inclusion projects. The territorial offices were also involved in the collection of data and the analysis of needs in different Italian regions, contributing to provide a concrete picture of the criticalities and potentialities of the services.Among the issues that emerged most clearly was the inadequacy of the resources allocated to mental health, with particular reference to the shortage of psychiatric rehabilitation technicians, specialised nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists and the growing difficulty of child neuropsychiatry and adolescent and adult psychiatry in responding to the demand for care.
The novelties in the budget law
The Budget Law 2026 introduces a significant element of discontinuity: for the first time, a multi-year appropriation specifically dedicated to mental health for the five-year period 2025-2030 is envisaged, amounting to 80 million euro for 2026, 85 million for 2027, 90 million for 2028 and 30 million annually starting from 2029.
Of particular relevance is the provision for a tied allocation of resources: 30 per cent of the annual funds reserved for prevention; 30 million earmarked for permanent recruitment of health and sociomedical personnel; the possibility for the Regions to waive the spending constraints for new recruitments within a limit of 450 million euro starting from 2026; the extension of the stabilisation of precarious personnel hired during the Covid emergency.
The link between the Plan and the financial manoeuvre thus appears structural: the Plan defines the organisational architecture and the strategic objectives; the Budget Law is its operational prerequisite. Although they are not decisive resources with respect to overall needs, they mark a reversal of the trend and introduce an important principle: mental health is a matter of multi-year planning and captive investment.
