Disuguaglianze economiche e salute nell’Italia contemporanea

[Machine translation] The 'health revolution’ of the last century has had major consequences on population and economy; and not just today the healthcare sector plays a crucial role in the social equilibrium, shaping reproduction and consumption behaviors, represents an important supply chain and is at the forefront of the scientific and technological research. Hence the importance of considering the health performances also in the light of the category ‘equality / inequality’ (without ignoring the difficulty of defining what ‘health inequalitiy’ is and which are its causes). Regarding Italy from the Unification up to the present, the increased expectations of citizens reflect the real improvements of the social and health conditions and also the reduction of the gaps in the main health parameters (life expectancy, infant mortality, causes of morbidity, etc.) between geographical areas, social classes, genres, and different ages. The empirical evidence thus reveals the considerable long-term progress that has led Italy to the top positions of the world ranking of the main health indicators. But still a century after Unification there were significant occupational and geographical differences in health services, whose causes the essay investigates. This paved the way for a radical reform established with the introduction of the National Health Service in the 1970s.