New pandemic plan: “In crisis situations, first serve those who benefit the most.” The ministry: just a draft – Corriere.it

Skins always available for operators, but also for citizens. National stocks of vaccines and drugs against influenza. And in the event of a crisis, the indication to health professionals to choose who to treat, giving priority to patients who “have more possibilities to benefit” from therapies. This is provided for in the draft of the new pandemic plan 2021-23, which -after the controversy related to the non-renewal of the document since 2006- lists the necessary measures to respond to threats to global health, also addressing the ethical issue of access to critical services. Health professionals are “always obliged to provide the best, most appropriate and reasonably possible care. However, when scarcity makes resources insufficient With regard to needs, the principles of ethics can allow scarce resources to be allocated to provide the necessary treatments preferentially to those patients who are most likely to benefit»Read the text prepared by the Department of Prevention of the Ministry of Health that will be submitted for review by the Regions. But precisely the reference to the ethical aspect immediately sparked the discussion: “It is just an informal draft shared with stakeholders and intended to gather information and changes,” we learned from sources in the Ministry of Health.

The lesson of the coronavirus

“In the course of 2020, a completely unusual event occurred” with a virus whose containment “has been difficult to implement,” reads the premise of the document. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shown that ‘one can and should be able to mobilize the system increase in a short time both the production of masks and personal protective equipment at the national level and the number of beds in intensive care, as well as ensuring that there are no inefficiencies in the care and care of people suffering from ordinary diseases (other than Covid- 19) how common. “

In the crisis “actions that are not acceptable under normal circumstances”

“Ethical and clinically correct planning should aim to ensure fair and equitable resources and protections, with particular attention to vulnerable groups. However, during crisis situations, the fundamental ethical values ​​allow some actions that would not be acceptable under normal circumstances. This does not mean, however, modifying the reference principles, but it is necessary to balance them in another way ”. In crisis conditions, it is observed, “situations change, not ethical standards. For example, the imbalance between needs and available resources may make it necessary to adopt triage criteria in access to therapies“. The project specifies that” it is not allowed to act in violation of the rules of ethics and deontology, but it may be necessary, for example, to privilege the principle of benefit over autonomy, which is given special importance in clinical medicine in ordinary conditions. “In general, we read”solidarity must inspire every decision; interventions should always be evidence-based and proportionate; people should always be treated with respect.

Adequate supply of medications

The draft of the new Pandemic Plan lists the concrete actions that must be taken to face any future threats. Among the measures indicated, the exercises periodic and the need to prepare adequate supplies of antiviral medications and rapid response at the local level through updated regional plans. Therefore, it is necessary to «guarantee the availability of annual supplies of seasonal influenza vaccine from national or international sources “and” have and maintain a national / regional reserve of antiviral drugs during the interpandemic phase define access procedures to reservations».