The lessons of Covid appear to have impacted most developed countries which, even without reaching the record funding peaks reached between 2020 and 2022, have decided to invest in health services more than before the pandemic. Among the countries that made an exception was Italy which instead returned to spending its budget as before the tsunami, at least if we consider the parameter of public health spending to GDP, an indicator that is often considered incorrect by the Government and the majority of the opposition while the opposition agitates to criticize. However, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) in its latest report “Health at a Glance” continues to use it as it does every year so that it turns out that Italy, both in terms of total overall expenditure and only for public expenditure that finances Health Services, is below the average of OECD countries despite the fact that 20 years ago the figure was slightly above and far from countries such as France, Germany and the UK and is now also surpassed by Spain.
In our country in 2024, 5,164 dollars each will be spent on treatment compared to an average of 5,967 dollars (at purchasing power parity) with the US reaching a record high of 14,885 dollars per capita while in terms of GDP, overall we are at 8.4% compared to the OECD average of 9.3%, but with many countries – without considering the 17.2% of the US – now reaching double digits such as Germany (12.3% GDP), France (11.5%) and the UK (11.1%). However, the most significant amount is probably the public funds devoted to financing health services which in Italy amount to 6.3% of GDP, far short of the UK’s 9.1%, France’s 9.7% and Germany’s 10.6% and even surpassed by Spain’s 6.7 percent (to 6.4% in 2019). What is surprising is that these countries, although no longer reaching the record figures achieved during the pandemic, have strengthened their public funding compared to the past, while Italy has returned to the starting point of 6.3% of public spending on health services to GDP, the same level as in 2019, that is, in the pre-Covid era.
However, the OECD report warns that between now and 2045, healthcare spending must grow by an average of at least 1.5% of GDP to respond to technological drives and the growing health needs of the aging population. However, what still attracts attention from Italy is the fact that despite lower average funding compared to other countries, the health conditions of Italian society remain good as shown by the fact that we have a life expectancy of 83.5 years, 2.4 years longer than the average of OECD countries, even as growth has slowed and in fact we have also been surpassed by Spain (84 years). Even the indicator of avoidable deaths puts us in an enviable position with only 93 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants compared to the OECD average of 145, thanks mainly to our lifestyle which in fact shows the incidence of obesity in Italy at 12% compared to the average of 19%. What is unknown at this time is whether this level of funding will be sufficient to sustain this still enviable performance.
