Air and water pollution: for young Italians they represent the main health threat in the coming years

Trusing but, in the end, little awareness. Research Science and Health: The voice of young peoplepromoted by Novartis and conducted by Abstraricerche last month on a sample of 1,005 Italians between 25 and 65 years of age, analyzes how young young people are aware of the value of clinical research To guarantee the right to health in the future.

A very positive picture emerges: well tKings out of four (73.1%) are convinced that, within five years, clinical research will make it possible to treat diseases today considered incurable. A figure higher than five percentage points compared to that recorded between 40-65 year olds (18.1%). Furthermore 79.3% of young people believe the idea that science has already made it possible to negotiate diseases that ten or fifteen years ago were unmanageable or without possible therapies.

Young people therefore put great expectations in clinical research, attributing them precisely the potential to make diseases or negotiable diseases more carelessly, with positive repercussions on the life expectancy (66.6%) but also to facilitate the early and precise diagnosis of some pathologies (66.4%) and overall to improve the quality of life of patients (63.1%).

Italian clinical research between excellence and limits perceived

Those who know clinical research in Italy repute it effective: 74.4% of young people believe that they produce concrete results while almost half (44.4%) are convinced that Italian researchers are superior to colleagues from other countries. Only 10.5% think they are less prepared.

As for the main actors of clinical research in Italy, young people indicate above all the university and the relative university clinics (61.5%) followed by pharmaceutical companies (45.6%), from public hospitals (33.8%) and by private ones (24.2%).

Poor knowledge on the risks related to a slowdown in research

Despite the trust, however, one persists limited knowledge of the sector: four out of ten young people say they Don’t know what clinical research is And only 52.7% of those who know it is aware that it is actually carried out in Italy.

Information on possible risks of a slowdown in research It is equally scarce: if more than half of young people (59.6%) has at least heard of the possibility that clinical research can leave the country, only 10.6% are defined as well informed on the subject.

Regarding the potential negative effects of a slowdown, just over four out of ten young people (45.7%) fear that this can have a negative impact on the health of Italians in the next five to ten years. However, the concern is more widespread among young people than the 40-65-year band (42.0%) and grows in particular among the under 40 women, where it touches 49.2%.

The risks perceived for health and society

The young people see in theair and water pollution (74.6%) The main threat to the health of Italians in the coming years, followed by a difficult access to prevention and carewith greater expectations and higher costs (70.9%). Two out of three young people also believe that personal factors such as aPoor quality nutrition (66.0%) and the sedentary lifestyle (63.2%) can contribute significantly to worsening the health of the population.

Who would pay the price of a slowed clinical research

According to over three out of four young people (77.6%) the first to suffer from a possible slowdown in clinical research in Italy would be the patientpenalized by longer or more access limited to new therapies (53.7%), by a reduction in the possibilities of accessing treatments (42.2%) and the difficulty or impossibility of participating in clinical studies (34.6%).

Also the world of work It would be affected by a slowdown: over half of young people (50.9%) fears a loss of opportunity, with 35.9% that highlights the risk to young researchers and a 29.8% worried about a possible drop in investments in the professions of the future.

On a broader level, 41.9% of young people feared negative repercussions on the country system, such as the Loss of prestige and competitiveness for Italy (28.0%) and the decrease in economic investments (25.3%).

“Italy has all the credentials to be a power also from the point of view of clinical research, we must optimize some aspects, but also invest in our resources, in the people who can help us, through their training, to be the researchers of tomorrow – he underlined Paola Cocoscientific director of Novartis Italia, at the event Sound of Science Promoted by the company to confront the challenges of research and innovation – research and the possibility of having innovative therapies is the first step, and it is essential, to be able to advance but alone it is not enough “. In fact, Novartis has always been engaged in the search for new tools that are focused on the possibility of being able to access patients to innovative therapies “and this on those therapeutic areas such as cardiology, which unfortunately is still the first cause of death in Italy, oncology, the second cause of death, neurology and immunology that represent the main causes of disability today. We have done so in the field of research but we do not want to stop, our commitment in research and development wants to continue – concluded Coco – and by 2028 we propose to invest others 150 million euros».

Clinical research barriers in Italy

For young people, the major obstacles to the development of clinical research in Italy derive from the overall context, indicated by 74.3% of the sample. Among the critical issues stand out the bureaucracywhich complicates the involvement of people in the research and slows down authorizations (55.2%), the highest costs compared to other countries (31.1%) and it Little level of digitization and technological infrastructures (24.2%, much more felt by young people than 14.0% of 40-65 year olds). The lack of qualified personnel (56.2%) also weigh and the limited availability of both public and private investments (55%).

The central role of patients in health decisions

Finally, young Italians prove sensitive to Direct involvement of patients. 75.8% believe that the patient’s point of view is taken into consideration in the evaluation of a new drug, with 35.2% who claims that this must always happen. In the same way, 72.3% consider to involve patients in health decisions, from the design of clinical studies to care paths, with 31.7% who are said to be fully convinced of this need.