Mattarella raises his voice on healthcare: "The disparity in care between North and South is unacceptable."

Rome – President Sergio Mattarella has placed the Constitution back at the center of public debate and issued a stark warning about the health inequalities that divide the country. The occasion is World Rare Disease Day, a moment of reflection that this year falls at a time marked by grief and investigations following the tragic death of Domenico, the two-year-old boy who died at the Monaldi Hospital in Naples after receiving a heart transplant that was later found to be damaged.

Article 32 and the territorial gap

The Quirinale's message is clear and leaves no room for discounts: "territorial inhomogeneities" in public and private healthcare today lead to "inequities that are no longer acceptable."

Mattarella recalls that Article 32 of the Constitution establishes a fundamental, inalienable, universal right to health, of primary concern to the entire community. "The right to health, constitutionally guaranteed, must be uniformly applied throughout the national territory," the Head of State emphasizes.

Equity, the President specifies, must extend well beyond simple access to medications, embracing the entire care pathway, psychological assistance, treatments, and all the services necessary to ensure patient dignity.

Rare Diseases: Italian Excellence and Open Challenges

The scientific and social challenges remain daunting: today, only 5% of the more than 8.000 rare diseases known worldwide have a specific drug therapy.

Despite the global challenges facing research, Mattarella recognizes our country's merits: "Italy stands out for its active commitment to promoting access to drugs for rare diseases and reducing the time between authorization and the actual availability of treatments." This excellence in the field, however, risks being undermined daily by differences in administrative and clinical efficiency between Italy's regions.

The institutions' closeness to patients and families

Concluding his remarks, the President offered a moving tribute and the Republic's official thanks to those fighting this battle on the front lines. Support goes "to those affected by rare diseases, their families, and the associations that support them with expertise and passion," organizations deemed essential by the Quirinale to guide public policies and raise social awareness on the issue.

A message of strong solidarity that united the heads of the institutions: the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Ignazio La Russa and Lorenzo Fontana, also echoed the words of the Head of State, reiterating the imperative duty of Parliament and the Government to guarantee treatment and concrete support to those who live with a rare disease every day.