By law, in Italy those suffering from celiac disease are automatically excluded from competitions to join the Armed Forces. Despite requests from the Italian Celiac Association, the rule has never been changed. Today the center-right rejected an agenda from the M5s which asked for intervention.
“We were left speechless by the sensational about-face of the government majority,” said Vittoria Baldino, member of the 5 Star Movement in the Defense commission. Today, the center-right rejected an agenda presented by the M5s, which asked for efforts to eliminate “all forms of preclusion of access to competitions and military careers for individuals suffering from celiac disease“, or gluten intolerance. An “astonishing” decision, according to Baldino, “given the public positions taken in support of this cause expressed by the majority during the hearing of the Italian Celiac Association in the Defense commission”.
Because those with celiac disease cannot enlist
The issue has been debated for several years. In 1985, celiac disease was declared a condition exempting him from military service. Today the Military Code, issued in 2010, provides that among the “imperfections and infirmities that cause unsuitability for military service” there are also “intolerances to drugs and foods”, which also includes intolerance to gluten. Basically, those who have a diagnosis of celiac disease receive a decidedly negative score in their suitability assessment, which makes it almost impossible to enlist. The topic is so heartfelt that the Italian Celiac Association (Aic) has a dedicated page on its website. A few months ago, faced with a new request for intervention, the Ministry of Defense responded directly to the AIC that “the current ban on celiac patients is understood from the perspective of a proven impossibility of fully protecting their state of health in any operating condition”.
What’s new in 2015 and the legislative proposals to change the rules
A first step forward came in 2015: a directive from the General Inspectorate for Military Health of the Defense General Staff established that “for personnel on duty, the diagnosis of gluten intolerance does not entail any medico-legal measures”. If enters the Armed Forces before diagnosis, therefore, there are no problems, unless the intolerance manifests itself with symptoms such as “to jeopardize suitability for service”. A positive result, but which also made it more paradoxical that those who already know they suffer from celiac disease are excluded from the competition a priori. Also because celiacs can access a series of other bodies without problems, such as the penitentiary police, the commercial air force and the fire brigade.
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The issue came up again in Parliament several times, over time. In December 2019, for example, the deputy Maria Elena Boschi had approved an amendment to the budget law that intervened on the issue; amendment then rejected later in the process. In June 2022, the M5s presented an ad hoc delegation law in the Senate to push the executive to modify the Military Code, but a few months later the Draghi government fell. About a year ago, in June 2023, a very similar proposal was deposited in the Chamber with the first signature of Vittoria Baldino, and is currently still being discussed in the Defense commission.
The agenda of the M5s rejected by the centre-right
The bill in question would oblige the government to change, within six months of its approval, the Code for “eliminate any preclusion to accessing a military career for people suffering from celiac disease or other food intolerances”, in order to respect “the principles of fairness, justice and non-discrimination in public competitions for enlistment in the Armed Forces”. And we get to today: Movement 5 Stella presented an agenda that would have committed (albeit in a non-binding manner) the government to move in the same direction. An agenda that the centre-right majority, however, rejected.
