Guarda (Greens): “Italy allocates just 2.7 per cent of its healthcare spending to mental health”

Brussels – “It was not terrorism, nor was it radicalisation, but a dramatic and extremely serious mental health crisis caused by isolation and neglect. Meanwhile, Italy allocates just 2.7 per cent of its healthcare spending to mental health.” Cristina Guarda, a Green MEP, made these comments during today’s (19 May) plenary session of the European Parliament regarding the events in Modena last Saturday (16 May), when 31-year-old Salim El Koudri drove his car at high speed into people in the centre of the town in Emilia, injuring eight, four of whom are in a serious condition. El Koudri is charged with massacre and grievous bodily harm, and yesterday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi clarified that “this was not an act of terrorism” and that mental health issues “are a very clear factor.” El Koudri is an Italian citizen, but the right wing has used his Moroccan origins to request the revocation of citizenship, which, incidentally, is not permitted under current legislation. 

“What happened in Modena is a wound too deep in my city’s conscience to be sold off to the marketplace of controversy,” declared Stefano Bonaccini (Democratic Party) during the Strasbourg session. The incident “has shaken people’s consciences and fear has gripped everyone,” he added. “Therefore, security levels must be raised, starting with the protection of public spaces, and more must also be done for mental health.” Cristina Guarda emphasised the issue of mental health, pointing out that Italy “ranks last among G7 countries in terms of funding allocated to this sector.” 

Stefano Cavedagna, MEP for Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), took the opposite view. “The attacker in Modena said he wanted to burn Christians” and “we have already heard the usual self-righteous people say that he is just a madman who needs to be understood, that he has Italian citizenship and that a health problem was the cause,” he emphasised. “Only a madman, of course, commits such acts, but we cannot reduce everything to madness. If, on the contrary, a Christian, a political activist, had used these words, we would be talking about his religion, his nationality, his political beliefs. We would not be talking about mental health. A true Italian would never call Italian Christians bastards,” he added. “So not only must he pay, but he must, if possible, pay in his own country, because if we are not clear about what happened, we risk it happening again,” he explained. 

Meanwhile, however, on 20 April, the Department of Health published the mental health report for 2024, which confirms Guarda’s statement: in 2024, only between 2.7 and 3 per cent of the National Health Fund was spent (FSN), which breaches the State-Regions agreements stipulating expenditure of 5 per cent of the FSN. Furthermore, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average for mental health expenditure is 10 per cent, in stark contrast to the Italian figures. In addition, funding is set to decrease. On the Ministry of Health’s website, one can read the National Action Plan for Mental Health 2025–2030.  Paragraphs 344–347 of Article 1 of the latest Budget Law allocate €80 million for the implementation of the Plan in 2026, €85 million for 2027, €90 million for 2028, and then only €30 million annually from 2029 onwards. 

Finally, while Isabella Tovaglieri (Lega) dismissed mental health as nothing more than a “justification used by the left” to protect those who “obtain European citizenship without being integrated,” Forza Italia called for a more mature approach: “Welcoming people is the first signal we can send to those coming to Italy,” said Fulvio Martusciello in the chamber. “A mature country would grant citizenship to those who came to the rescue.”