Italy · 60th anniversary of the founding of the Gesundheitsministerium

The establishment of an independent state health administration was connected with the rebuilding of Italy after the Second World War. Previously, central public health responsibilities had long been assigned to the Ministry of the Interior. From 1945, a High Commission for Hygiene and Public Health based at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers took over some of these responsibilities. With the subsequent creation of a separate ministry, health policy, disease control, hygiene and health supervision were given a permanent place within the government.

An important constitutional basis was provided by Article 32 of the Italian Constitution, which entered into force in 1948. It defines health as an individual fundamental right and, at the same time, as an interest of the community. It also obliges the state to guarantee free medical care to those in need. Health was thus understood not only as a private matter, but explicitly as a public responsibility.

The organisational development of the Italian healthcare system was not completed with the founding of the ministry. In 1978, the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, the national health service, was established. It was intended to provide a generally accessible, tax-funded healthcare system and replaced the system previously characterised to a great extent by occupation-based health insurance funds. In subsequent developments, numerous responsibilities were transferred to regions and local health authorities. The central government remained responsible, among other things, for general health policy guidelines, prevention, the safety of medicines and food, and coordination in the event of health threats extending beyond regional boundaries. As part of several government reforms, the ministry was temporarily merged with other departments and subsequently again administered as an independent authority.

The female personification on the coin belongs to a long European artistic tradition. As early as Roman antiquity, “Salus” was depicted as a female figure. The term encompassed both physical well-being and protection and public welfare; Salus therefore also appeared on ancient coins. The modern depiction adopts this comprehensible allegorical form without portraying a specific historical person. The institutional anniversary gave Italy an opportunity to highlight, alongside the history of the ministry, the constitutional and state responsibility to protect health.