“Hepatitis C is a disease with very serious consequences, we all know that it is transmitted through blood transfusions and sexual intercourse. One of the categories most at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections is that of young adolescents, but we must not forget the elderly For this reason we ask to focus on a more structured screening and not limited only to those born between 1969 and 1989. It is now necessary to proceed with the older classes, starting from those born in 1948. The expansion of the eligible requested by us with an amendment, then rejected, is also without new burdens for the State and for public finance”. This was stated by the former Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin (Pd), on the sidelines of the conference ‘Screening strategies and prevention of digestive tumors: the European Project’, promoted in Rome by the Foundation for digestive diseases (Fmd) to illustrate the European recommendations and useful actions to be implemented in Italy so that a healthier lifestyle is promoted and prevention programs are encouraged.
“Hepatitis C is a subtle disease – explains Lorenzin to time.news Salute – which takes years to give that clinical picture that makes the disease evident even in the eyes of the patient. So to prevent all this, you need to do screenings, because getting to the first diagnosis allows these people not only not to develop the disease, but to heal and above all not to transmit the infection. But screening programs should be aimed not only at the population at risk. This is the meaning of the amendment which was rejected”.
Hence the ex-minister’s wish: “I am confident that, through raising awareness also of the Ministry of Health, we will be able to find the resources, around 5 million, to expand the age range of the general population to be screened”. Even “if the amendment is no longer part of the Milleproroghe – Lorenzin specifies – the action of Minister Schillaci is enough to reach the goal which is everyone’s goal – scientific societies, patient associations – that is to eliminate the disease and prevent people from contract the infection.”