Anti-vax doctors among the ministry's consultants spark protests from the scientific community. Russo resigns.

Controversy has arisen over the appointment of two doctors known for their anti-vax stance, Paolo Bellavite and Eugenio Serravalle , as consultants to the Ministry of Health's National Technical Advisory Group on Vaccinations (NITAG) . The two professionals have faced criticism for publicly expressing anti-vaccine views, particularly regarding pediatric and COVID-19 vaccines, and are considered spokespeople for anti-scientific theses.

Their inclusion in the committee has sparked disappointment from scientific societies, academia and health professionals, who fear serious damage to scientific communication and trust in the vaccination system .

The Transversal Pact for Science (promoted by Guido Silvestri and Roberto Burioni) has launched a petition calling for the revocation of the appointments , arguing that the State's advisory bodies should be composed of experts with proven adherence to the scientific method and faith in the effectiveness of vaccinations.

A significant segment of the scientific community has expressed concern about the message these appointments send, while some political figures criticize Health Minister Orazio Schillaci for favoring these appointments. Furthermore, a recent committee member, Francesca Russo , resigned in protest at the presence of these doctors on the panel.

An insurmountable obstacle for those like Francesca Russo, who led the campaign against Covid in Veneto. It's impossible to sit on the same Ministry of Health Vaccine Committee alongside two doctors known for their anti-scientific stances on vaccines.

The head of the Veneto Region's Department of Prevention has declined the ministerial position, effectively a renewal for her after having just completed a three-year term on the national technical advisory group on vaccinations.

Russo took pen to paper to justify her decision, "which," she writes, "was made following an evaluation of the group's composition, which includes members who have repeatedly publicly expressed positions inconsistent with scientific evidence on vaccinations in the past, sometimes even supporting or spreading messages contrary to national vaccination strategies," Russo concludes.

The scientific community is mobilizing and rallying behind this courageous and coherent decision. The Italian Society of Neonatology and the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health are united behind the Veneto health director.

Meanwhile, the Veneto medical associations are asking Health Minister Schillaci to review the composition of the Committee "in the supreme interest," they write, "of citizens' health."