Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Community and Physician, cilt.36, sa.5, ss.388-400, 2021 (Scopus)
In the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy was the first country in Europe where cases were seen and the epidemic reached serious dimensions. The response of health systems to this pandemic with similar problems as a result of health reform practices is important. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the inclusive national health system in Italy is characterized by a decentralized regional-based service financed largely by taxes. Italy performs better than the average of European Union (EU) countries in terms of life expectancy at birth and other health indicators. On the other hand, health expenditures and the number of hospital beds per person are below the EU average. After the start of COVID-19 cases, the highest number of cases was reached at the end of March due to a rapid increase, followed by the decrease in the number of cases after April and the 2nd wave started as of the end of August. The measures taken with the onset of the cases in Italy were continued with lockdown practices approximately 1 month later. Financial and psychological support systems have been implemented for the community. A scientific board was established, the society was informed, and data sharing was carried out in a transparent manner. General practitioners and new mechanisms created in primary health care have played an important role in the management of cases. However, problems such as the difficulties in hospital and intensive care capacities and the high rate of infection of healthcare workers have emerged because of the rapid increase in cases. Among the factors affecting these results are the decentralization of the system, insufficiency of the number of beds and the number of healthcare professionals, early onset of the epidemic, delay in effective measures, age structure of the society, high level of chronic diseases, testing policies, social life characteristics, as well as lack of planning with hospital care being prioritized during the pandemic. Despite the rapid development of various solutions during the epidemic process, it would be appropriate to produce permanent solutions by reviewing the health system in Italy.