Italy's health system shows stark regional gaps in care and data transparency

The UGL health union reports that in the latest Ministry of Health mobility report, 691,640 Italians – roughly one in ten – travelled outside their home region for hospital treatment in a single year. Northern regions, especially Emilia‑Romagna, attracted the most patients, while southern regions such as Calabria, Campania, Sicily and Puglia experienced large outflows and a loss of billions of euros in public funding.

Investigative journalists have also highlighted a lack of up‑to‑date official abortion statistics. Their research shows that in 2024 more than half of all abortions in Italy were performed with medication rather than surgery, a trend confirmed in 15 of the 17 regions that provided data. Regional variation is wide: Molise recorded 88.7% medical abortions, whereas Friuli‑Venezia Giulia reported only 40.2%. Lazio had the highest abortion rate at 8.31 per 1,000 women aged 15‑49. The data were obtained through freedom‑of‑information requests because the Ministry of Health still publishes figures only up to 2023. Both reports point to persistent regional inequalities in health service provision and a transparency gap that hampers policy‑making.