Lombardy drives digital health innovation and backs popular law to strengthen Italy's NHS

Regional assessor Marco Alparone highlighted the role of engineers and clean, disaggregated data in advancing digital health in Lombardy. He stressed privacy protection, the complexity of EU and Italian regulations, and the use of PNRR funds to build a national health data infrastructure that moves budgeting from silo‑based allocations to patient‑level cost assessments.

In Milan, a popular‑initiative law was presented to reinforce the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. The proposal, supported by over 100 associations including CGIL, ACLI and ARCI, calls for funding of at least 7.5% of GDP, better remuneration for health staff, expanded territorial services, reduced waiting lists, home care for 30% of over‑65s by 2028, guaranteed access to voluntary termination of pregnancy, comprehensive sex‑education, harm‑reduction policies, and continuity of care for chronic patients.