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Gaetano Di Meglio | Right to health denied, in particular on the island of Ischia. A right to health that has always been precarious, to tell the truth, given the functioning of our structures and the methods of intervention of the ASL and the Region. But that in times of pandemic is even denied. Yet the very right to health, enshrined in the Constitution, is the foundation of the anti-contagion measures adopted by the government. But only for the prevention of Covid, precisely, when these measures are also really adequate and not counterproductive, as is too often the case.
In all of Italy, the cry of alarm has been sounding for months, in particular for situations of difficulty and denied treatments that are forced to face cancer patients and obviously also all other citizens suffering from equally serious diseases. And we have already reported plenty of extreme and shameful cases in these columns, since the pandemic broke out. But it wasn’t that much better before… And in fact the initiative we are going to illustrate is linked to a problem that is now “endemic”. The budget for the services at the affiliated facilities that in Campania always runs out too soon due to poor management, leaving those who cannot afford to pay for diagnostic tests and therapies out of their own pockets.
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A citizen of Foria, Nicola De Siano, thus decided to write a heartfelt letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and the Campania Region. asking for the protection of the right to health “as a fundamental right of the individual and in the interest of the community”. And recounting the vicissitudes to which the parents are forced, precisely oncological patients.
Here is the content of the letter, which should make all health care managers think not a little: “I am writing to you from the beautiful island of Ischia: two of my family members have been operated on for neoplastic diseases and have not been able to do normal prevention for several months: but not just because of Covid-19.
Hereby I would like to inform you of the problems that our family (as well as thousands of others) experiences every day, in the hope that you will be able to adopt resolving legislative measures to protect the health of all Italian patients.
My loved ones, in December 2020, were unable to carry out the ultrasound checks in agreement with the health system, in private laboratories, since the agreement period has ended in the Campania Region.
Moreover, what is much more serious, they have not been able to carry out the annual cystoscopy in the hospital, since these services, due to Covid-19, are postponed.
My prayer is to provide for cystoscopy exams, (but also for other types of oncological checks), agreements with private clinics, as is the case for Covid hospitalizations.
I hope that we should never suspend the agreed services for people who have to undergo cancer checks, or alternatively, quota one or two a year, so as to make the service always possible.
In my humble opinion, Italy has a good health system, we must not forget at this moment the fantastic work that has been done in the field of prevention, especially to diagnose any cancer recurrences in good time.
Mine is not a criticism either of national or regional institutions, but it is a cry of desperate pain in search of the right to health ».
A cry of pain, in fact, and not even the first, as mentioned. The dysfunctions existed before, but now it seems that any concern of the heads of the institutions is directed solely to the pandemic. Forgetting that you get sick and also die of cancer, heart disease, etc. And the question to ask seriously is: how many are the deaths caused by the pandemic not from contagion but from diagnosis and late treatment of other diseases? Let us try not to increase this figure, however unknown or jealously kept secret … In the rooms of the Ministry of Health and the Campania Region, have they ever really worked to solve this problem? And will anyone consider Nicola De Siano’s request for the right to health? The hope is that we can contribute to moving the stagnant waters of our health care.
