Italy ^Region

High HALE and Life Expectancy
High Gap between HALE and Life Expectancy

Final Longevity Progressiveness Ranking: #30

Final Longevity Progressiveness Score: 0.633

Practical Recommendation Summary: Further efforts are needed to reduce smoking rates, so as to reduce deaths from lung cancer and other smoking-related deaths and the prevalence of overweight and obesity

Practical Recommendations (Full):
● Stop focusing on “sick care.” Health care leaders must shift the nation’s “sick care” approach to care that is preventive and comprehensive.
● Reduce socioeconomic inequality and disparities in health outcomes. Despite full coverage for basic medical services, 7% of Italians reported some unmet needs for medical care in 2015 either for financial reasons, geographic reasons (having to travel too far) or waiting times. This is a higher proportion than the EU average (less than 4%) and has grown in recent years. Most of the unmet medical needs are attributable to care being too expensive, with waiting lists and geographic barriers accounting for a relatively small share.
● Adoption of P4 medicine concept in healthcare. Preventive, precision, personalised and participatory care will increase efficiency of healthcare system in terms of rise of health-adjusted life expectancy. P4 medicine will use the power of systems medicine and big data to bring to bring all individuals into their 90s with full mental and physical function.
● Utilizing AI opportunities for preventive medicine and precision health. Translating the tremendous growth in data into clinical insights falls into the hands of AI (artificial intelligence)/ML (machine learning) platforms. The rapid growth in investment in AI and cloud computing are beginning to create the foundations for the precision health market of the future. But apart from advanced research it is important to provide effective, low-cost treatments that work, triggering unnecessary treatments and higher costs down the line.
● Focus on health status of elderly. The government should initiate strategy focused on health status of elderly and ageing population. Provision of increasingly complex mechanical and electronic devices for the treatment and rehabilitation of older persons, development of socialization activities for elderly to handle stress better, social activities may lead to important increases in cardiovascular health and an improved immune system.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
● The life expectancy at births was 82.6 years in 2015 slightly higher that the OECD average and the fourth highest in the EU. ● Italy has one of the levels of obesity that is only 10.3%. ● Healthcare system in Italy is comprehensive offering the universal coverage. ● Primary care in Italy is of high quality with low levels of admissions for some diseases. ● Italy has good levels of cancer survival and mortality. ● There are low levels of amenable and infant mortalities suggesting that the Italian medicine is effective in treating of life-threatening conditions.

Weaknesses:
● There is a high level of antibiotics prescribed and defined at 27.5 daily doses per 1000 population. ● The level of healthcare expenditure per capita is slightly lower than the OECD average. ● There is the lowest doctors per nurses level in Italy along with the shortage of acute beds in hospitals. ● Community care and preventive medicine are less developed in Italy that in other OECD countries. ● Disparities in health status exist across regions and socioeconomic groups.

Opportunities:
● The focus on care integration and coordination to improve efficiency of healthcare sector. ● Adoption of P4 medicine will increase efficiency of healthcare system in terms of rise of health-adjusted life expectancy. P4 medicine will use the power of systems medicine and big data to bring to bring all individuals into their 90s with full mental and physical function. ● Strong commitment to adopt new technologies and improve performance measurement by strengthening eHealth and health information infrastructure.

Threats:
● Ageing of the population arises new challenges for the life expectancy. ● Italy has the second highest dementia prevalence among the OECD countries and its ratios are predicted to increase. ● High levels of obesity among adolescents. ● 21% of adolescents in Italy are smoking regularly. ● There are low rates of physical activity among the teenages in Italy. ● Access to health care in Italy varies largely by region and income group.

SWOT Conclusions

Strengths Analysis:
● The smoking rates in Italy are slightly below the EU average and tend to decrease. ● The alcohol consumption in Italy fell and it is well below the EU average. ● Healthcare system is accessible and core services are free for citizens and foreigners both as the HAQ index is 94.9. ● Italian women at age 65 can live 22.2 years more while Italian men are expected to have additional 18.9 years at 65. ● Two-thirds of the Italian population report being in good health, a rate close to the EU average. ● Italian primary healthcare makes the strong emphasis on the effective care coordination and guarantees.

Weaknesses Analysis:
● The population is ageing dashingly (22% of total population are older than 65 years) and it is the oldest in Europe. ● Disparities in the use of specialist care, diagnostic services and basic medical tests are largely connected to higher health literacy of the well-off (affecting the utilisation rates of preventive services and screening), and low-quality services and long waiting lists. ● Provision of the long-term care in Italy remains to be poor if to compare with other developed countries. ● There is a relatively high out-of-pocket spending in Italy - 23% of total costs. ● There is a low amount of disability-free years that Italian elders can live. ● Cardiovascular diseases and cancer are the main reasons for the deaths for Italian people. ● There was a significant increase in the deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia since 200 year.