Protecting Undocumented Migrant's Right to Health in Italy

At the end of 2008 six senators of the Lega Nord party (a member of the ruling right-wing coalition) presented two amendments that severely threatened the guarantee of access to health services for undocumented migrants, proposing to change Article 35 of the law on immigration, leading to the possibility of reporting undocumented migrants to the authorities while seeking treatments. Backed by the position of the National Federation of Medical Boards and of several scientific societies and by the mobilisazion of civil society associations and non-governmental organisations, the Italian Society of Migration Medicine (SIMM) mounted a struggle to influence the Italian Parliament’s decision. As the protest grew, 101 members of Parliaments belonging to the ruling coalition that had voted for the Act, issued a letter for its withdrawal, till on 27 April 2009 the amendment was removed from the law. This struggle represents one of the most successful and effective campaigns on health-related issues in Italy.