The Ministry of Economy and Finance blocked the amendment that would allocate 6 million euros per year for the breast cancer prevention. The decision arrived on March 19, 2025, when the Senate Budget Committee examined the bill on the waiting lists in Health. According to the MEF, the proposed financial covers would not be enough to support the measure.
The project aimed to extend mammographic screening to women in the age group 45-50 years and 70-74 years, today excluded from the standard programs of the National Health Service. The controversy for the rejection come together with those relating to the cost of the rearmament plan.
The funds for prevention blocked
The proposal rejected provided for a loan of 6 million euros The year from 2025 to 2027, on an experimental basis. The goal was to strengthen the prevention of breast cancer, pending the extension of the national mammographic screening program.
The fund would allow you to start prevention campaigns And early diagnosis In regions that still do not cover women over 69 years of age and under 50.
According to the Senate Budget Commission, the measure was not approved for the lack of covers adequate, as explained by the Undersecretary of the Economy Sandra Savino. The negative opinion was also expressed on another amendment that provided for 5 million euros for the prevention of eye diseases.
What the proposal provided for
The bill aimed to involve two age groups today less covered by screening free:
- women between 45 and 50;
- women between 70 and 74 years old.
According to experts, the extension of the national program would have made it possible to diagnose early many more neoplasms in women at risk.
The associations and oppositions have defined the decision of the “immoral” MEF, underlining that the tax space seems to be there only for the rearm plans, estimated at over 30 billion euros, while the health system struggles to guarantee essential services.
The controversies are taken: “No coverage, for the rearmament yes”
The senator of the 5 Star Movement, Elisa Pirrointervened hard after the rejection of the amendment on funds for the prevention of breast cancer. Pirro accused the government of having made a “becera propaganda” on healthcare, without then finding the resources necessary to support the mammographic screening campaigns.
For the senator, the priority given to military spending compared to public health (unlike what Giorgetti promised) is a political choice that risks further worsening the conditions of access to careespecially for the weakest bands of the population.
