“To treat cancer from smoking we spend double what we collect from excise duties”- breaking latest news

«The annual cost of treatment for smoking cancer is about double what we collect from tobacco excise duties, 14.40 billion in 2021». The Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci cites the data from the Veronesi Foundation to justify the counter-offensive against cigarettes, cigars and alternative products just announced in Parliament.

Will there be a new law?
«We are verifying which is the most suitable tool to tighten the bans, even outdoors. I look forward to gathering certain evidence on the damage caused by electronic cigarettes and products without combustion (read the announcement by the producers here)”.

Law smokes?
“Never lit a cigarette. I have not felt the desire for them and not only because as a doctor I know how much they hurt».

Fara thing?
«It is useless to put more money into the national health fund, and my government has done so, if then the patients affected by major pathologies increase and with them the costs of treatment. Prodigious oncological drugs are arriving that we certainly cannot give up ».

Why the squeeze on other cigarettes too?
“Because
the consumption of smokeless cigarettes increases exponentially among adolescents, which in any case contain nicotine and are addictive.
It has not been proven that they are less harmful, contrary to what is led to believe ».

Tomorrow the general manager of the Aifa drug agency, Nicola Magrini, not reconfirmed by you, will leave. Who takes over?
«
Dr. Annarosa Marra, the most senior official, formerly responsible for the pharmacovigilance service, will govern the institution on a temporary basis
until the new regulation that redesigns the body is ready. We plan to do it in 2-3 months. The new arrangement will ensure greater efficiency and speed in the approval of medicines. The virologist Giorgio Palù remains the chairman of the Board of Directors ».

Did the Meloni government want to get its hands on Aifa, as the opposition accuses?
“These attacks surprise me. Until now, the general manager has always been indicated by the incoming health minister, according to the regulation. All governments implement it spoils system. It is normal to call trusted men to the top, but it is not in my interest to interfere with the work of the technicians. Aifa will maintain its independence”.

Emergency room personnel, targets of aggression, await protection and incentives.
«We have just received the data collected by our information system for monitoring sentinel events, alarms, concerning acts of violence against healthcare workers. An initial survey, still incomplete, indicates that in 2021 60 physical assaults were reported in 20 Regions, in 2022 there were 85 in 14 Regions, but the Lazio update is missing. Minister Piantedosi has chosen to restore police posts in some hospitals in large cities. This mapping provides additional information on where vigilance is urgently needed, with emergency medicine centers leading by number of episodes, followed by psychiatry.

Every day in Lazio alone about a thousand patients already visited in the emergency room await hospitalization. Should the number of beds be increased?
«The problem is territorial medicine, not the number of beds. There must be sanitary places for those in need of intermediate care. They are missing now.”

Is the pandemic over or could the sub-variant called Kraken reopen a threatening scenario?
“The numbers are very reassuring. We are calm for now. Mandatory swabs on citizens arriving by direct flight from China did not reveal the presence of variants of the virus other than Omicron. Furthermore, the cases have not increased since the isolation of asymptomatic positives is limited to 5 days and you can get out of it without having to swab. This does not detract from the booster dose. The campaign to invite citizens to do it, together with the flu shot, is going on”.

On January 31, the ordinance on the obligation to check airports for passengers on flights from China expires. Will it be extended?
“We may decide to cut them off.”