Gazebos in the squares for checks and measurements, periodic health pills published on social media, a regular column on your portal. Fadoi, the scientific society of Internal Medicine, is investing heavily in prevention: « This is a difficult time for public health – explains the President of Fadoi Francesco Dentali, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Asst Sette Laghi – The mistakes made in the past are coming home to roost we pay years of big cuts. I am on the Ministry’s technical table on updating the risk cards. Unfortunately, in Italy we are witnessing a easing of attention on risk factors. The indices do not improve on obesity, hypertension, smoking, diabetes, cholesterol. In some cases, such as smoking, we see a recovery especially among young people. The topic of prevention must become central again because every euro invested in prevention is doubled.”
Last week, in 52 Italian squares, Fadoi organized a day of visits, checks and talks: « We were also in Varese and it went very well – comments Professor Dentali – about a hundred people sat at our banquets. We measured blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar thanks to portable meters. It’s a good sign: people understand our organizational effort. Throughout Italy we visited over 2500 people.”
Fadoi is investing in culture with health pills and a column dedicated to prevention: « Today it seems that prevention has taken a back seat, behind emergency rooms, waiting lists, etc. It is important, however, to convince citizens to collaborate in the collective effort to guarantee health. Make everyone responsible because our habits and choices influence our well-being. Half of hypertensives do not know they are hypertensive, while a cyclical measurement would be enough to keep us under control. Especially those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, are overweight, have an irregular diet, would do well to undergo frequent check-ups.”
Greater awareness of healthy lifestyles and attention to one’s own health would bring advantages to the entire system: « Increasing the culture of citizens can also lead to benefits for waiting lists with greater prescriptive adherence by doctors. It is a virtuous circle that starts from the conscience of the individual and has repercussions on the entire healthcare system. The alliance between citizens, general practitioners and hospital specialists is the basis of a new model of well-being whose advantages would also be seen in the reduction of hospitalizations. It is an investment that we must start making today even if the benefits will be seen in a few years, perhaps a decade. This is the path and like Fadoi we want to continue and invest. We will continue in our action to promote a different culture with all the initiatives we carry out including the annual appointment with Health Day”.
The event is part of three health promotion initiatives Saturday 4 May at Palazzo Verbania in Luino where, starting at 9.15, we will talk about “Heart and well-being”. The aim is to educate on heart health: how to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.
