Suchergebnisse

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the Italian healthcare system. The pandemic not only caused the enactment of extraordinary tools that severely restricted people's freedoms to counteract the spread of the virus, but it also raised the question of the reasons of the very high number of victims, among the highest in the world.
Among the causes of the spread of the virus are unpreparedness of the Italian authorities, failure to update the national pandemic plan, lack of coordination amongst the public authorities involved, failure to prepare adequate stocks of medical devices and related supply problems; but also problems that have long been highlighted, such as the lack of attention to primary and local care, to general medicine, to hygiene and occupational medicine. The research aims to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the national health system and the reaction of the Italian system to the pandemic, to verify recent developments (especially those being financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan), to propose tools and actions to be able to adequately deal with future health emergencies.

What is the nature of European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) and of harmonized European standards? Are ESOs public or private bodies? Are harmonized standards established by such organizations an entrustment of public powers? Standards are the prescriptions of the best way of doing things, are typically set by private parties and remain of strictly voluntary application. Also European harmonized standards, although recognized by EU legislation, seem to have a private nature, as they are non-binding and emanate from the ESOs, which are private bodies. However, such standards are a necessary implementation measure which is strictly governed by the essential requirements defined by a directive, and are initiated, managed and monitored by the Commission. Moreover, subject to prior publication of their reference in theOfficial Journal, they have certain legal effects, such as giving rise to the presumption of conformity with the essential requirements established by the directive. As a consequence of the 'public' nature of harmonized European standardization deriving from the peculiar relationship between the ESOs and the Commission, and from the legal status and effects of harmonized standards, such standardization activities ought to follow certain procedures and to respect certain principles of administrative activity.