At a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, Schillaci stated that instead of leaving the WHO, “we must strengthen Italy’s role and our model in international forums because isolation is not a viable way to address the complex global health challenges of our time.”
The health minister questioned a recent legislative initiative calling for Italy’s exit from that international health agency, presented to Parliament by the right-wing Lega party, a political force that is part of the government coalition presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
The bill to withdraw Italy from WHO, defended by Salvini, was presented shortly after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20 to withdraw the United States from this United Nations health institution.
Italy remains in WHO thanks to a strong scientific community that “has a tradition of promoting evidence-based health policies,” Schillaci said in his presentation before that legislative forum on Wednesday and said this nation “will continue to give its contribution to global health, also with the United Nations.
Its participation will be maintained in crucial spheres, such as surveillance, prevention, preparedness, and response to health emergencies, prevention of chronic degenerative diseases, and epidemiological monitoring, the minister said in his statements spread on Quotidiano Sanita (QS), the online newspaper of health information.
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