Mattarella warns against vaccine opposition and unequal access to health care at Quirinale event

Fake news and vaccine opposition

President Sergio Mattarella spoke on Wednesday, 28 October, at the celebration of 'I Giorni della Ricerca' (the Days of Research) at the Quirinale Palace in Rome. He said science and research save more human lives each year, yet irrational beliefs and destructive fake news still spread and frighten parts of the population, even if those parts are small. He described opposition to vaccines as one of the most troubling symptoms of this trend.

Mattarella tied those beliefs to real harm. When painful news stories involve adults or children who risk or lose their lives from illnesses they could easily have been protected against, he said, it is necessary to counter those who try to poison public opinion. Il Messaggero reported that a four-year-old girl died of diphtheria in Palermo in August and had not been vaccinated, and that measles deaths are rising across the developed world as vaccination rates fall.

“Research and science save more and more human lives, yet we must still note that irrational beliefs and destructive fake news are spreading.”

Parliament and the doctors' bill

Il Messaggero said the speech came the day after the Chamber of Deputies approved a bill on health professions that would reinstate doctors who oppose vaccines. The bill passed with votes from the centre-right and Futuro Nazionale. The same outlet noted the hearing of former health minister Roberto Speranza before the Covid commission, which drew controversy over the tone used against him. Mattarella's remarks were addressed to researchers from Airc who were honoured in the Corazzieri hall. The outlet also said he had spoken on the same theme in Florence on 26 October.

Access to screening and care

Mattarella said it is unacceptable that territorial differences reduce access to screening in some areas or regions. He said economic hardship must not turn into an obstacle, or even an impediment, to treatment. He argued that the National Health Service was created to make the right to health a full right of citizenship, and that its resources, treatment offers and facilities should narrow inequalities rather than widen them. Il Messaggero reported that he also called for reducing the North-South gap in health care.

“Early diagnosis is the most effective tool against cancer, and this possibility cannot be conditioned by social or territorial differences.”

Wars, research funding and pandemic cooperation

Mattarella said resources that should go to research are being siphoned off by senseless wars and by attempts to extend military conflict to every corner of the earth and even into space. He also complained about new material and immaterial barriers rising in various fields, which hinder the international effort to prevent and combat existing outbreaks and the risk of new pandemics. He recalled the cooperation between countries, continents and cultures during the Covid epidemic as proof that research depends on joint effort.

He closed by placing the person above the achievements of laboratories, and he called for trust and hope in the fight against cancer, where, in his words as reported by AGI, there is still a road to travel. The speech made no reference to specific funding figures or new measures.