There are currently 22 thousand patients under treatment. The needy in our country are estimated at more than three million. For them, yesterday in 28 squares demonstrations were held in as many cities to ask for structural investments and the inclusion in the new LEAs (the essential levels of assistance) of eating disorders as an independent chapter. Yes, because to address this social alarm and not leave families and field workers alone, we also need viable solutions, organization and funds. It’s a theme that VITA by following constantly.
Precisely for this reason it is necessary to continue awareness-raising initiatives with serious and concrete proposals. How did he do Active Citizenship joining the appeal of associations, including Animenta, the University Students’ Union and the Middle School Students’ Networkand of many healthcare professionals, who took to the streets yesterday.
The promise
«The minister of health Schillaci announced the allocation of ten million euros to be allocated to the Regions, for treatment programs for those suffering from eating disorders. An important signal for sure, but we really fear too little compared to the needs of hundreds of thousands of girls and boys, a rapidly increasing number and at an increasingly younger age, who often face long times for the first diagnosis and with subsequent integrated care they need, because specialized centers and public professionals are few and present only in some areas of Italy”, he declares Anna Lisa Mandorinogeneral secretary of Cittadinanzattiva who today takes part in some of the events planned across the national territory.
Reality
Going back to the numbers, there are approximately 22 thousand patients currently being treated, but those affected by DCA are estimated to be more than three million; only in 2023 were they almost registered 4000 deaths linked to these pathologies. There are 126 public facilities registered in 2023 by the Higher Institute of Health, of which 63 in the Northern regions with 20 structures in Emilia Romagna and 15 in Lombardy while in the Center there are 23, of which eight in Lazio and six in Umbria, and 40 are distributed between the South and the Islands, including 12 in Campania and seven in Sicily.
The proposals
«Immediately we ask the Regions to facilitate healthcare mobility of those who suffer from eating disorders and cannot currently find answers in their territory, awaiting long-lasting measures and investments to expand the number of public centers and specialized clinics throughout Italy and equip them with the necessary staff. This is why we ask that the current Government takes a step forward with the provision of structural and long-term investments and, as soon as possible, the inclusion in the new LEAs of the pathologies included under the DCA heading. Ours is an appeal to really do everything possible to meet the care needs of many young people who today struggle with pathologies that are still little known and unfortunately often underestimated and stigmatized”, concludes Mandorino.
Photo from the University Students’ Union website, which took to the streets with other associations on 19 January 2024 in front of the Ministry of Health