ROME (ITALPRESS) – A debate on the importance of prevention and Law 130 of 2023 on screening to detect genetic predisposition to type1 diabetes and celiac disease was held today at Sala della Regina of the Chamber of Deputies to mark World Diabetes Day promoted by Chamber Vice President Giorgio Mulè. “The legislation is important for Italians because they have a tool that puts them at the forefront of the world for preventive medicine that will say, and already says today, that between the ages of 0 and 17 years what is the predisposition for diabetes1 and celiac disease. After the pilot screening,” Giorgio Mulè explained, “we found 4 times the normal percentage of children predisposed to the disease, these will be followed from now on in the evolution of the disease and will avoid the risk of an onset that can be ominous. This is a great step for Italy and of great safety for all Italian children. Having completed the pilot screening in Campania, Marche, Lombardy and Sardinia we are moving forward with the national screening and are ready to start with next year. We therefore have an operational tool that is envied us all over the world. “The event was attended, among others, by Marco Silano, director of the endocrine-metabolic and aging department ISS; Antonio D’Avino, president Federazione Italiana Medici Pediatri; Raffaella Buzzetti, president-elect of the Italian Diabetology Society; and Stefano Nervo, president Diabete Italia onlus. “Outstanding teamwork and cutting-edge legislation have enabled Italy to become a reference point in the world on the prevention of type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. I am sure that the spirit of collaboration and confrontation we have already experienced will allow us to reach new ambitious goals,” Orazio Schillaci, minister of health, said in a message. “It is very important to remember this pathology because of its prevalence and the fact that it is increasing exponentially,” emphasized Raffaella Buzzetti, president-elect of the Italian Diabetology Society. “We have 530 million people in the world who are affected by this pathology, 4 million in Italy alone, and if there are no prevention measures we know that in 2030 it will become as many as 630 million. The goal of diabetologists is to ensure a good quality of life for those affected, implementing the best possible therapies and technologies, remembering that a correct lifestyle is also the basis of psychophysical balance. Law 130 has been implemented in 4 regions and there are already results and we know that positive children will be followed up in follow-up. This is an important example that will allow the law to be implemented throughout the country as soon as possible. “Marco Silano, director of the Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic and Aging Diseases of the Iss, pointed out that “the propaedeutic project for the implementation of screening for type 1 diabetes and celiac disease in the national territory has given very important indications. We have enrolled 90 percent of the patients we proposed, and the first very important result is that there has been a great acceptance by families. So the first indication is that the population has accepted this program well. In addition, the numbers are confirming to us that screening will allow us not only to diagnose cases that otherwise would have remained silent for a long time, but above all to save lives because we will intercept early young children at risk of developing diabetes at risk of developing a dreaded complication, at times, even lethal, such as that of diabetic ketoacidosis. “According to Stefano Nervo, president of Diabetes Italia onlus, it is “fundamental this day to remind everyone that this disease exists and is difficult to manage especially type1 diabetes, but if managed well it allows one to be able to live a normal life. What we are trying to bring to the attention of this day is the word ‘prevention’ which applies to both types of diabetes; type2 diabetes is preventable with healthy lifestyles, a healthy diet and fighting obesity, for type1 diabetes prevention is not yet completely there but there is prevention of ketoacidosis which is a very serious condition that can even lead to death. With this new law passed last year establishing screening, we have the hope that once it is fully in place there will be no more beginnings in diabetic ketoacidosis and that no child will ever again die from not being diagnosed with type1 and will not be harmed,” he added. Finally, Antonio D’Avino, president of the Italian Federation of Pediatric Physicians, explained that if “the disease if intercepted in time and properly detected it can change not only the life of the child but of all family members. We as family pediatricians have prevention as our mission and, when it comes to chronic diseases, we have seen in Law 130 a virtuous model that can be exported because, where there are enlightened people like Vice President Mulè who start a path and involve all stakeholders in the network, then comes the finalization of family pediatricians who in their practices further sensitize families with respect to diseases that, detected early, can be adequately treated,” he concluded.
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