The oncologist from the University of Genoa Lucia Del Mastroauthor of the protocol to preserve fertility in women affected by cancer who must undergo chemotherapy. Marcello Ceccaronidirector of Gynecology at the Irccs Sacro Cuore of Negrar, who developed a pioneering surgical technique for the treatment of complex endometriosis. Adriana Lodi, who linked her name to the rights of working mothers with the battle for the establishment of nursery schools. They are some of the eight winners of the De Sanctis Prize for Social Health, awarded at Palazzo Spada, in Rome.
Established in 2021, after the De Sanctis Foundation expanded the activity of the Award to all those disciplines aimed at promoting the health and well-being of the population, the recognition dedicated in the two previous editions to the elderly and young people, while this year wanted to bring to the fore the commitment to women’s well-being and health, at 360 degrees. Prevention and treatment of tumors, medical-scientific research, information, protection of women’s civil rights, are the areas into which it is divided.
Among the awards assigned by the jury chaired by Franco Locatelli, president of the Superior Council of Health, there is also that in memory of Rosalinda Franklin, whose research contributed to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, but remained hidden, covered by that of his male colleagues. Just as there is the name of Carla Vittoria Maira, founder of Atena Donna, an association promoting the institution of National Women’s Health Day, which is celebrated on 22 April. The oncologist Adriana Bonificino, president of Incontra Donna Foundation was instead awarded for the screening campaigns carried around Italy on board the Frecce Rossa.
Finally, awards went to the Stampa journalist Annalisa Cuzzocrea for the commitment to women’s rights, ea Maria Rescigno, biotechnologist at Humanitas University, who has dedicated research to understanding the mechanisms of progression of female tumors, including the influence of intestinal bacteria. The initiative was promoted with the patronage of Egualia. “Science is humility combined with awareness: every time knowledge increases, awareness of how much we don’t know increases”, concluded Minister Nordio.
Casellati: “women’s health is a stage of emancipation”
“When we talk about discrimination against women we are generally talking about a limitation on women’s access to certain professions or top roles. But little attention has always been paid to their health.
Attention to their health is a stage for emancipation”, underlined the Minister for Institutional Reforms Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, on the sidelines of the award ceremony of the De Sanctis Prize. “The history of women’s health – added Casellati – is very recent: medical choices and drug testing have always had the male subject as a reference, forgetting that men and women are also different in their response to drugs and treatments”.
Attention to women’s health is, therefore, she reiterated, “an important stage for women’s emancipation. Suffice it to say that only 8 years ago the National Women’s Health Day was established, and the establishment of the first Chair of Gender Medicine, at the University of Padua”. Research and experimentation for women’s health, concluded the former president of the Senate, “are rewarded today, demonstrating the greater awareness we have today of the value and importance of women”.
Bernini: “investing in research because it impacts everyone’s lives”
“We must invest in research and researchers, because research immediately impacts everyone’s health, well-being and safety. It is not something distant, as is sometimes thought, but concerns our lives closely”, said Anna Maria Bernini , Minister of University and Research. “Awards like the one awarded today – she added – focus attention on people who, through their work and commitment, have distinguished themselves for having developed solutions to help people live longer, live healthier or make the disease more manageable.” These are, she concluded, “exceptional women and men who have been able to promote all-round health“.
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