A meeting of the steering committee for the NRRP [National Recovery and Resilience Plan] was held at Palazzo Chigi today, to discuss the Plan's Health Mission. The purpose of the meeting, chaired by Minister for European Affairs, the NRRP and Cohesion Policy Tommaso Foti and attended by Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci and the Presidents of Italy's Regions and Autonomous Provinces, was to boost the implementation of measures, ensure oversight of monitoring activities and guarantee fulfilment of all the goals agreed at EU level.

During today's meeting, the steering committee reviewed the progress of measures throughout Italy for the completion of strategic projects for the Government, including health community houses and community hospitals, improvements to the seismic safety of buildings, the upgrading of hospital facilities and the modernisation of their technological and digital equipment.

"These measures are of key importance to strengthen Italy's entire national health system and improve citizens' quality of life. During this final stage of the Plan, we need to ensure continuous dialogue with regional authorities, as they are the bodies in charge of implementing the measures. This is why we have decided to establish a permanent technical working group for enhanced monitoring of the Health Mission's investments", stated Minister Tommaso Foti.

"The Health Mission's investments are crucial to strengthen local healthcare and provide increasingly effective responses to meet citizens' health needs. Important goals have already been achieved, such as new equipment to provide patients with more reliable, higher-quality examinations. We now need to speed up with other measures, in particular to strengthen local healthcare services and primary care. In this regard, our dialogue with the Regions will be even more closely coordinated and systematic, with the common goal of enhancing services in order to guarantee the right to health", stated Minister Orazio Schillaci.

For the very purpose of ensuring systematic discussions between the Government and the Regions, today's steering committee meeting decided to establish a permanent technical working group, to be coordinated by the NRRP task force, which will ensure enhanced monitoring of the measures included in the Plan's Health Mission.

[Courtesy translation]