PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – From dream to reality: the project “Sicily for Life”, conceived and funded by the Fondazione Tommaso Dragotto becomes, finally, operational with the laying of the first stone. After the necessary bureaucratic investigations, and obtained the necessary authorizations, the Dragotto Foundation announces the beginning of the work on the site located at the historical and panoramic area of Acquasanta, inside Villa Belmonte, part of the Hospitaller University “Paolo Giaccone” that will work in concert as a partner and co-protagonist of the initiative.
The structure of about 500 square meters, in disuse for many years, will be completely renovated and used for the reception of small patients: specialized spaces, medical rooms, diagnostic departments. The works necessary for the renovation of the Villa Belmonte plexus consist in the construction of plant and building works aimed at the realization of new paediatric outpatients with related adjoining services, both toilets and common areas: this structure will therefore offer a significant support for regional health care.
The prevalence of persons with rare living disease included in the Regional Registers of Rare Diseases is 0.94% in under 18 years (MonitoRare, XI Report on people with rare disease in Italy, July 2025). Considering the paediatric population in Sicily, which is about 800,000 under 18, it can be estimated that there are about 7,500 children with rare disease in Sicily. They are children with generally progressive, multi-organ, disability and, in 80% of cases, genetic etiology. In children/boys 40% of rare diseases are ascribable to the group of “congenital, chromosomopathies and genetic syndromes”, many children and adolescents with rare diseases are in fact carriers of complex disabilities. The aim of the Dragotto Foundation is to give hope and care to the little ones in a polyambulatory of excellence, specialized for qualification of the medical staff and avant-garde of the treatments, which becomes a point of reference for the entire noon, still devoid of similar structures, ensuring proximity to the public care paths, with obvious benefits both in social and economic terms.
President Tommaso Dragotto declares: “With this project, the Dragotto Foundation wants to leave the city of Palermo and Sicily a concrete, useful and lasting work, a place of therapy, welcome and hope for both small patients and their parents. We want to give care that is translated in the future for children whose living conditions are delicate and complex, not only for the disease but also for the logistic difficulties to face, thus reducing the sad phenomenon of health migration: every smile will be a milestone from a medical and human point of view. The commitment to the realization of this project today becomes reality thanks to the partnership agreement between the Sicilian Region Councillor for Health and the Policlinico P. Giaccone of Palermo”.
Director-General of Policlinico Paolo Giaccone Maria Grazia Furnari says: “Sicily for Life” is an important step for paediatric assistance and for children with complex diseases and pathologies. The collaboration between the “Paolo Giaccone” University Hospitaller Company and the Tommaso Dragotto Foundation shows how synergy between public health and private initiative can be translated into concrete opportunities for patients and their families. A commitment that is accompanied by the utmost attention to the principles of legality and transparency, as also demonstrates the subscription, by our Hospitaller Company, of a protocol of legality in Prefecture, to guarantee the correctness and transparency of the procedures connected with the realization of the work. Our goal is to contribute to the realization of a pole of excellence capable of integrating specialist skills, diagnostic and welfare paths, ensuring increasingly qualified and accessible care. A project that looks at the future of Sicilian health, focusing on the needs of children and the right of families to receive adequate welfare answers, without being forced to seek them away from their own land.”.
Also the artist Gigi D’Alessio, involved personally in the promotion and fundraising for the initiative thanks to the concert “Sicily for Life – Gigi & Friends” – held at the Renzo Barbera Stadium in Palermo last June 2025 – comments: “At the Barbera Stadium we celebrated together with an entire city, and today that embrace becomes stone, walls and care. For me it is an honor and a joy to be part of this project. Every child deserves to grow with hope, and from today Palermo will have an extra place to find it. Thanks to the Tommaso Dragotto Foundation and to all those who made this dream possible. ”
“The Sicily for Life project is an initiative with a high humanitarian value, which enhances attention to scientific research and solidarity – says the regional Councillor for Health, Marcello Caruso –. Giving state-of-the-art care to children with rare diseases means making an important contribution to improving their quality of life and hope for families. The attention to the paediatric band, by the Schifani government, is a priority. The synergy between public structures and private initiatives, such as that of the Tommaso Dragotto Foundation, contributes to making important steps to meet the needs of the most fragile”.
The renovation works, just begun, will end at the end of January 2027 date when the Dragotto Foundation will entrust to the Palermo Polyclinic the turnkey structure, complete with medical equipment and furnishings.
– Photo press office Fondazione Tommaso Dragotto –
(ITALPRESS).
