Rome, 17 December (LaPresse) – ‘I believe that this is a measure that has greatly benefited healthcare, and we have obtained significant additional resources. It is not only the funds that matter, but also how they are used, and it is important to have a vision.’ This was stated by Health Minister Orazio Schillaci, a guest on Start on Sky TG24. ‘This measure clearly looks at the changes that need to be introduced in the National Health Service. The first is to increasingly value human capital, doctors and nurses. There are significant increases for them and additional hires. I would like to point out that, in addition to the hires for which there are funds in this measure, the regions can also hire with the health fund shared among them,’ he continued. 'OECD data show that Italy has the highest life expectancy in the world, so the National Health Service, which many attack, clearly works in Italy. We must focus on prevention because, in order to keep our National Health Service sustainable and, above all, to maintain the principles on which it was founded 47 years ago, namely free access to care, equity and attention to the weak and fragile, we must ensure that the number of patients decreases in the future. There are ad hoc funds for prevention, some screening programmes have been revised, such as breast cancer screening, and there are funds to complete the latest research,' he concluded.