Pnrr, the last challenge is the completion of the community houses
Health target more difficult to reach than digitisation and kindergartens
Key points
If the Municipalities are the neural network of the NRP, the health system is the organ to which they all connect. Therefore, it was particularly important that the investments in the modernisation of the National Health System come to fruition. The Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, speaking in connection at the annual event 'L'Italia del Pnrr" at the 'Leonardo da Vinci' National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, lists the targets achieved:
- three billion for the home care of more than one and a half million over-65s taken care of in 2025;
- one and a half billion for telemedicine aimed at more than 560 thousand frail and chronically ill people
- over one billion for the modernisation of hospital technology;
- one billion four hundred million for the digitalisation of emergency departments and reception;
- the launch of the electronic health record.
"It remains to complete the project of thecommunity houses: the target of territorial medicine is more complex to achieve, but with everyone's effort it is feasible in time (the deadline is 30 June, ndr), because after 47 years it is right that the SSN modernises without giving up its founding principles," says Schillaci.
Local authorities
Antonio Decaro, in the dual role of former mayor of Bari and current president of the Apulia Region, is confident, given the targets achieved so far in the health sector, but poses a relevant question: if the target of 1,038 community houses is overall for the whole country, the venture is feasible, if it is to be distributed by region, critical issues emerge. 'In order to create the community houses, there are practical difficulties, such as the identification of properties in the municipalities, the numerous authorisations, the reliance on Invitalia to speed up procedures but with the effect that the companies involved were always the same'.
The case of the Liguria Region seems to point to a positive model: President Marco Bucci reports having built 32 community houses (the target was 30) for a total of 25,000 visits per month removed from the emergency rooms. 'High quality of life is only guaranteed by high quality of healthcare,' Bucci comments. "In this, territorial medicine is fundamental, as is telemedicine, both because there are valleys in our territory that are difficult to reach and because, with the ageing of the population, it is essential to invest in prevention, also with a view to economic sustainability".
In addition to healthcare, the areas in which the Pnrr funding has taken root the most in the territories are digitalisation, school infrastructure, and mobility. Of the 415 million obtained with the Pnrr, the mayor of Bergamo, Elena Carnevali, explains that more than 200 million have been devoted to sustainable mobility to decongest private traffic, while over eight million have been dedicated to the demolition and reconstruction of schools and nursery schools, for a total of 140 extra places. "We must attract not only tourists, but also families and spread an idea of parenthood supported by infrastructure, female employment and housing support," Carnevali emphasises.
