Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci Announces New Funding for Primary Care and Mental Health Services

The Italian Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, said that part of the €235 million recently released will be earmarked for family doctors' practices to purchase first‑level diagnostic equipment such as spirometers, ultrasounds and electro‑cardiographs. Additional funds will support Community Health Centers, a national communication campaign and the hiring of more doctors and nurses, with higher salaries targeted at the most understaffed areas.

In a separate parliamentary motion, the Action party highlighted severe shortages in mental‑health services in the Brescia region, citing long waiting lists and a lack of psychologists, psychiatrists and child neuro‑psychiatrists. The deputies demanded a structural intervention, a 30 % increase in specialised staff and roughly €2 billion in extra financing. They referenced data showing that 82.2 % of patients would discontinue treatment without a clear agreement with doctors, and pointed to a public petition that gathered about 72 000 signatures in support of better mental‑health care.