Vaccination programmes against invasive disease in Italy, with particular regard to Valle d'Aosta

摘要

This letter is based on my experience of technical meetings aimed at preparing documents on vaccination programmes for the Conferenza Stato Regioni. The message I would like to convey is that these technical committees are often made up not of healthcare personnel, but of administrative staff members who are not experts and who consider only political/administrative aspects. In Italy, the National Health Service has been decentralized since 2001. This means that all 21 Italian Regions, with the strategic support of the Ministry of Health, are responsible for organizing and delivering all health services, and for allocating the necessary budgets.