2023-11-29 17:47:11
by Health Editorial Staff
Healthy lifestyles, such as physical activity, healthy eating, vaccinations, can reduce the demand for health by up to 60%.
The health of the future? It goes through prevention, scientific research, access to treatments. in a nutshell, the message that comes from experts, representatives of institutions, associations, scientific societies and industry, who spoke at the second edition of InnovaCtion, an annual event promoted by GSK, to discuss the prospects for health, the engine of global well-being, in our country and around the world.
We understood better during the pandemic that there is an interconnection between the health of people, animals and the environment. Hence the need for responses to global health, according to the One Health approach, which require the collaboration of all the actors involved.
Prevention: key word
Globally, the number of people aged 60 and over is expected to increase by more than a third (around 1.4 billion individuals).
Italy is still among the longest-lived countries in the world and remains in second place for the number of over 65s in the European Union: they represent 23 percent of the total population. Hence the challenge of trying to keep people as healthy as possible even in later life. The key word prevention.
But how can we guarantee a healthy future for the population? Prevention is the true actor of change and can also make a contribution to the sustainability of the healthcare system – said the general director of Prevention at the Ministry of Health, Francesco Vaia –. Healthy lifestyles help limit the demand for health by 60 percent: the number of hospital days in our country could be reduced by 1.3 million, which would mean saving 2-3 billion. And, lifestyles include vaccines.
Health calendar
The proposal of the Director General of Prevention of the Ministry of Health is to arrive at a Health Calendar, which marks all the most important stages of a person’s health, throughout life starting from birth with breastfeeding, vaccinations at age pediatric (for example against measles, chickenpox and other infectious diseases see here) and adolescence (against HPV), up to adult vaccinations, such as those against Herpes Zoster (or “Shingles”) , influenza, Covid, pneumococcus, still underestimated, although they are fundamental steps, together with screening, for healthy aging. In short, getting vaccinations not because we are obliged but because, as Dr. Vaia specified, we have understood that it is as important for our health as doing physical activity and eating well.
More equity in our country too
Vaccines are an exceptional prevention tool, they have saved millions of lives and are extremely effective and safe, recalled Roberta Siliquini, president of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, who underlined: Even in our country there are pockets of population who are unable to access the best prevention technologies.
Stefano Vella, professor of Global Health at the Catholic University of Rome, echoed the differences in access to treatment and prevention: There is a difference (which must be resolved) not only between the North and the South of the world but also between the North and South of the country. For example, in the case of AIDS we managed to bring innovation to developing countries too, but it is important that everyone can access it.
The role of research and innovation
Thanks to pharmaceutical innovation, it was remembered during the event, in our country, mortality from chronic diseases has decreased by 40 percent in the space of twenty years.
In 2022 the sector confirmed itself among those with the highest rate of innovation, with investments amounting to 3.3 billion euros. For its part, said its president and CEO Fabio Landazabal, it has long since chosen Italy to establish strategic research and production hubs and has continued to grow them over the years, obtaining notable results in terms of innovative drugs and vaccines made available available all over the world. With the changes in the economy and the progressive aging of the population – added Landazabal – a new national plan for life sciences is needed, designed together by politics, national and regional institutions, academia, associations and the private sector which integrates new technologies and allows for 360-degree care of the person, in prevention and treatment and facilitates access to innovation.
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November 29, 2023 (modified November 29, 2023 | 4:53 pm)
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