The populist virus returns to healthcare

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There are past populisms that the governing right has managed to marginalize, overcoming them, containing them, sidelining them, and setting them aside. And there are past populisms that the governing right has instead chosen not to scale back, giving them space, leaving them free to play, and transforming those selected extremisms into a laboratory for the worst of the political culture from which the nationalist right has drawn heavily in the relatively recent past. Passion for conspiracy theories, devotion to conspiracy theory, hatred of elites, distrust of globalization, the fight against experts, and contempt for science. There are past populisms that the governing right has chosen to marginalize, such as anti-European populism, and there are past populisms that the governing right has chosen not to overcome, also to transform those forms of extremism into flags of identity to wave in an attempt to appeal to those nostalgic for the old right-wing populism with the proud look of someone who wants to say: hey, friends, don't worry, it's still us, we're still the same.

The most dangerous form of populism that the ruling right has chosen to indulge in an attempt to demonstrate a reckless and reckless affinity with its not-so-distant past concerns healthcare. Already during the pandemic, you may recall, the nationalist right attempted to transform every rule for managing the pandemic into a form of arrogance by global elites eager to impose a progressive hegemony on the world through vaccines, lockdowns, green passes, and policies that, according to conspiracy theories, have not simply helped us overcome the pandemic, but have accustomed us to having our freedoms taken away. Today, five years later, the ruling right has decided to once again send signals to its electorate, disappointed by the government's anti-populist shifts on this very issue. And the transformation of healthcare into a playground for young conspiracy theorists is both sensational and shameless. It all began, quietly, with the Covid Commission, used as a club to strike at the former government opposition, transforming it into a political process rather than a technical analysis of the actions of Giuseppe Conte and Roberto Speranza, thus fueling conspiracy narratives. The Commission didn't just pursue a conspiracy agenda; it also brought in some iconic consultants, so to speak, such as Giovanni Frajese and Alberto Donzelli, two well-established figures in the anti-vax movement, who advanced positions that questioned both the genesis of the pandemic (created in a laboratory) and the very use of vaccines. During this period, the new Pandemic Plan remained hostage for nearly two years to internal controversies within the majority regarding the role of vaccines and the hypothetical restrictions on personal freedoms that would be triggered in the event of future pandemics. And the government's stance on vaccines is at the root of another embarrassment: the inability to find a name for the Ministry of Health's Directorate General for Emergencies (responsible for vaccinations and the pandemic plan), which has been vacant for months.

Italy, then, to send further signs of love to the conspiracy world, abstained from the vote on the WHO's Global Pandemic Plan on May 20, 2025, during the 78th World Health Assembly: during the approval phase, when 124 states voted in favor, no one opposed and 11 abstained, including Italy . A month ago, on July 18, as if that weren't enough, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci formally notified Italy of its rejection of the amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), adopted in 2024 with resolution WHA77.17 during the 77th World Health Assembly. This wasn't a withdrawal from the WHO, of course, but a signal, a flag, signaling the government's uncompromising determination to break with the World Health Organization's multilateral approach. It also signaled its alignment with Trump's healthcare populism, which, through his Kennedy administration, has launched a civilized battle against the WHO. To further align itself with Trump's vaccine skepticism—Trump, through his Kennedy administration, has rekindled vaccine skepticism, reduced recommendations for children and pregnant women, halted $500 million in mRNA projects, promoted individual freedom regarding immunization, and strengthened the anti-mandatory stance—the Italian government has continued to work. On at least two occasions. The most recent is the one that caused the most stir: in early August, it renewed the NITAG, the technical committee on vaccinations, including authoritative experts but also two members known for their anti-vax stance. The highly critical Italian Society of Hygiene considers the appointments (a) damaging to the organization's scientific credibility and (b) legitimizing conspiracy theories lacking evidence.

The Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health then highlighted something that should be obvious, but which, in the era of Cencelli, used to please not only party factions but also conspiracy theorists, clearly isn't: the presence of individuals who have actively contributed to the spread of misinformation on vaccinations risks causing serious communication and cultural damage, legitimizing anti-scientific positions and undermining public trust. The second piece of the puzzle is linked to the promise made to Undersecretary of Health, Marcello Gemmato , that he will become the face of Fratelli d'Italia, the party increasingly dominant in Italian healthcare, to give increasing visibility, perhaps to the point of being promoted not only on talk shows but also to the position of deputy minister. Gemmato, for those with short memories, is the same champion who in November 2022, a guest on the program "Re Start" on Rai 2, declared, as a member of Parliament: "Would it have been worse without vaccines? That's what you say." The exacerbation of healthcare conspiracy theories has also led to a latent state of tension with many of Italy's regions, led by dangerous communists eager to simultaneously eat children and vaccinate them. These tensions have manifested themselves both through the appointment of a commissioner to Agenas (the agency that coordinates regional healthcare services) and through the prolonged blocking of the National Pandemic Plan by the Conference of the Regions (the pandemic plan was blocked for about a year by the ministry following internal disputes within the majority over vaccines and lockdowns; the regions requested amendments, which were only implemented in recent weeks, to better clarify the responsibilities between central and local governments).

Populism, we know, often presents itself like a volcano: if you've accumulated lava over the years, sooner or later you'll have to get it out somewhere. The Meloni government has chosen to plug many craters, preventing the magma from escaping on many fronts (Europe, immigration, pensions, public finances, foreign policy), and has chosen to keep a few craters open, from which all the accumulated magma can escape (safety valves where they can play at being little Trumpians). The trend is clear. But playing with healthcare in a country where vaccination coverage, starting with Covid, continues to decline, especially among the over-80s, the group most at risk, and turning healthcare management into a quid pro quo to be handed out to extremists they can't control, is both encouraging and dramatic news. Encouraging because the populists' inconsistency with their own past is so glaring on many fronts that it's forcing the nationalist right to focus on a few craters. Dramatic because the chosen crater coincides with the scientific, cultural, and political plundering of an Italian excellence: our healthcare system. Reconsider, before it's too late.

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