THEL Fund to combat Eating Disorders it had been established in 2021 with the aim of strengthening the network of multidisciplinary clinics dedicated to the treatment of DCA, absent in many Italian regions. But it also had another value and meaning. «The Fund also represented an important step towards true recognition, with a separate budget, of Eating Disorders in the Essential Levels of Care (Leah). The cut demonstrates that politics has no vision of the future, and that 4 million people will not be able to be treated.”
25 million cuts in funding for eating disorders: what does it mean?
These are the numbers: 4 million people suffer in Italy of an eating disorder, and only in 2023, 3,780 deaths for diseases related to these disorders. I am the second cause of death among adolescents after road accidents. And for the last three years the experts have been recording +40% diagnosiswith the double the hospitalization requests.
The 25 million cut concerns the network of multidisciplinary clinics. «An already insufficient network, of 126 structures, with 8-10 beds each. For a total of 900 beds for those in more serious conditions. And all the others?», says Caporossi. “There are many more people who would need hospitalization.” And it’s not always about the scales. «It happened to me too, being sent home “because I wasn’t underweight enough”. A sentence like this… instigates you.” She encourages me to lose weight again.
Well, many of these (insufficient) structures counted on the renewal of the Fund. «They will fire professionals and close some of their spaces», explains Caporossi.
Aurora Caporossi: «There is no national strategy»
But the Fund also represented a step towards an important goal. «Transfer the inclusion of eating disorders in the Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA) into a separate category, with an autonomous and binding budget to guarantee stable assistance throughout Italy» (Today they are included in the macrosection of mental health).
The cut in funds, explains Caporossi, is therefore «the sign that a future vision, a national strategy in the treatment of eating disorders is missing. And this means structures and professionals but also prevention in schools and raising awareness in society. What politics is not taking charge of is a silent epidemic that should be addressed as such, as if it were Covid. And today instead anyone who gets sick and cannot pay for hospitalization in a private clinic dies in Italy». And it’s not a niche issue at all. «Not only for the numbers of those receiving a diagnosis. But for everyone: the relationship with one’s body, with food, and mental health are issues that concern everyone.”
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