Last Wednesday, in the Italian Parliament, the 12th Commission for Social Affairs asked Assobiomedica to speak on the inclusion of aids and prosthetics for disabled people to play sports in the devices supplied by the National Healthcare System.
One of the reasons for the hearing of Assobiomedica is recognition of the fundamental role that healthcare and public health play in innovation and in the investments needed to guarantee economic growth. The medical devices sector, in particular, is an area of application for innovative and sophisticated technological solutions, the result of investments in research and development.
Disability should not be seen as a cost in this context. In the case of a physical disability, use of these aids can allow a disabled person to live autonomously and independently.
Aid is therefore not a synonym of care, but rather a chance to regain independence.
The use of aids and prosthetics in sports is a further step towards a forward-looking and independent lifestyle, with a logic of prevention that means more health and fewer costs to be paid by the community.
The Director General of the Association, Fernanda Gellona, was joined at the hearing by Alessandro Berti of Moretti SpA, as the Assobiomedica expert delegate on this issue, who expressed the Association’s opinion on the proposed Law AC 665. Assobiomedica emphasised that prescription of the most suitable aid or prosthetic for the person is both a right and an opportunity. An aid that perfectly satisfies the needs of the individual is the best response to their need for independence and synonymous with a better quality of life, as well as leading to savings in healthcare costs.
The Assobiomedica delegate, Alessandro Berti, therefore asked the Commission for the proposed law to be approved as soon as possible by Parliament, so that the National Healthcare Range of Fees for prosthetics allows access to technological innovations not only for manufacturers, but also for private citizens.
Assobiomedica also underlined the importance of investing in skills and fitness in every stage of public purchasing, avoiding downward bidding procedures or centralised purchases, and emphasised the decisive contribution that Italian companies, which now export innovation worldwide, can make to the virtuous processes that relaunch our National Healthcare System.
