GENOVA (ITALPRESS) – From January 1st of 2026 in Liguria will be expected to exemption the ticket for all diagnostic and therapeutic performance aimed at patients with established diagnosis of exudatory maculopathy. Thanks to this new bill, proposed by the Councillor for Health Massimo Nicolò, Liguria becomes the first region in Italy to guarantee citizens with this pathology free access to diagnosis and timely care, with an investment of €400,000. “With this intervention – says the Councillor for Health Massimo Nicolò – we strengthen our commitment to ensure the care of the most fragile patients and to promote the prevention of serious consequences such as hypovision and blindness. This is a concrete step to reduce the social and economic weight of a pathology often linked to metabolic diseases and aging, particularly felt theme, considering that our region presents the oldest population in Europe, with profound social and economic implications.” The initiative responds to the growing need to ensure timely interventions on pathologies with high disability and social impact. The exudatory maculopathy is in fact an eye disease that affects the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for the sharp vision and details, leading to a progressive damage of the visual ability. If not treated in time, it can cause a serious loss of central view. Early diagnosis and early access to therapies are therefore fundamental tools to preserve the vision and quality of patient life. The measure is part of a broader strategy of prevention and promotion of visual health, with the aim of reducing cases of non-autosufficiency and visual disability related to eye diseases. From 24 November 2025 in Liguria will also start the experimentation of the screening project in pharmacy with Tomography in Coerenza Ottica (OCT) in Asl 3 and Asl 2, Genoese and Savonese area. The initiative will allow Ligurian citizens to carry out an advanced, rapid and non-invasive diagnostic examination free of charge, essential for early intercepting eye pathologies of great impact. OCT is a test that uses light to obtain high-resolution images of retina, macula and optic nerve. It is an essential tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, increasingly widespread conditions especially in a population with an average age such as the Ligurian one. OCT screening in pharmacy will be directed to residents in Liguria, who have no established diagnosis of maculopathy or who have not performed an OCT in the last 18 months, belonging to the following categories: people with diabetes, identified by prescriptions of anti-diabetic drugs (ATC A10 code) or via diabetes exemption; citizens aged 55 or over. In this first phase 8 pharmacies will be involved, identified in the territories of the two Asl and duly formed. The examination will be carried out by an orthopticist, who will carry out a first evaluation to identify any critical issues and promptly direct the aids to further clinical insights when necessary.“ Liguria was one of the first regions of Italy to start the projects envisaged under the ministerial project on the testing of the Pharmacy of the Services – adds the Councillor Nicolò -. In fact, right from the start, we activated why the allocation assigned by the Ministry of Health to our region, amounting to 2.2 million, then became 3 million with the funding for the current year, was promptly and effectively used for the testing of certain services provided by pharmacies in order to assess its effectiveness, to make them structural and fully integrated within the Regional Health Service. The recent and innovative project dedicated to OCT screening in pharmacy, thanks to the capillarity of pharmacies and the collaboration with Doctors of general medicine, ophthalmologists, diabetologists and geriaters, will help to strengthen the grip of chronicities. This is a strategic intervention for Liguria, which previews an initial investment pairs to approximately 100,000 euros and that it is confirmed a true “epdemiological laboratory” at national level, where the models of integration between territory and specialist can generate significant benefits for the health of citizens”. “The experimentation of free OCT screening in pharmacies confirms the central role of the Pharmacy of the Services in our Healthcare System – emphasizes the director Policies of the medicine of the Liguria Region, Barbara Rebesco -. Thanks to their capillarity, pharmacies become a quick access point and close to prevention, offering an advanced diagnostic exam without cost and without expectations to those entitled. This project strengthens the integration between territory and specialist and represents a concrete step towards the stabilization of new services that improve the taking into account of the chronicities and the quality of assistance in Liguria”. “The possibility of carrying out the OCT diagnostic examination free of charge in pharmacies is another important innovation that fits in the context of the ‘farmacia dei servizì that we are increasingly strengthening and expanding, working in collaboration with the Federmasti province – declares the vice president In this case too, Liguria is a national leader, being the first region in which this experimentation is carried out, which of course we hope will become a stable service. We start from next week with a small group of pharmacies to test in detail all the operational aspects of the activity and to ensure the most effective and efficient service possible. The service will then be extended next year to all pharmacies in the region who intend to participate in the project. The OCT exam can be carried out both for screening for the subjects who have the requirements, and on presentation of dematerialised medical recipe”. The Ortotists, protagonists involved in the project, responded enthusiastically and collaborated with great commitment to its realization: “This project demonstrates concretely how important it is to work together: when regional institutions and professional orders join forces, innovative solutions are born that make health closer to the real needs of the citizens – comments the president of the Order of Health Technicians of medical radiology and the technical health professions of rehabilitation and prevention of Genoa, Imperia and Savona, Antonio Cerchiaro -. Professional Orders play and will continue to play a key role in enhancing multi-professionality and teamwork. Only through a true integration between different skills can we build a health capable of taking care, really, of the person in his biological, cultural and relational totality”. “Visual prevention is one of the fields of activity of the vegetable gardener and screening is a prevention intervention – comments the President of the Albo Ortottisti of Genoa, Imperia and Savona, Monica Ciarlanti -. Unfortunately, to date in Italy, there are no structured screening programmes of diabetic retinopathy, despite the Guidelines for years exhort health services to their planning and organization and at present the possible realization of them is entrusted to the individual initiatives of the Health and Hospitaller Companies; Also for this reason, the orthopticists are very proud of this teamwork.”.
– photo press office Liguria Region –(ITALPRESS).
