The healthcare scandal explained by Rezza

To the Editor – I have read Gianni Rezza’s comments following his testimony before the Parliamentary Covid Committee. His account deserves attention. Rezza is a leading epidemiologist, with decades of experience and an international track record. Yet, according to his account, he was treated as a political opponent rather than as an expert whose views should be heeded. The Committee should piece together what happened during the pandemic, identify mistakes and assign responsibility, and scrutinise the decisions taken. It must not turn into a political tribunal. Politics has the right and the duty to ask difficult questions, request documents and challenge decisions. But it cannot confuse scrutiny with humiliation, nor the search for truth with the hunt for a scapegoat. If certain members of Fratelli d’Italia have chosen this approach, they should reflect on the institutional implications of their behaviour.

Rezza maintains that he has submitted the requested documents and points out that both the ordinary courts and the public accounts court have already intervened on various matters. He is not asking to be exempt from scrutiny: he is asking for the respect due to anyone who has worked during a dramatic emergency, without for that reason being regarded as infallible. Then there is a question we risk forgetting: are we prepared for a new pandemic? Have we strengthened prevention, public health, epidemiology and research? Have we learnt anything from our mistakes? This is precisely what a parliamentary committee should also be addressing, because knowing who made mistakes yesterday serves, above all, to ensure we do not repeat the same mistakes tomorrow. His solidarity goes out to Rezza and to all those who have contributed, or could have contributed, to piecing together the facts. Science has no party affiliation, and expertise is not an aggravating factor. The doctors who tackled Covid are not public enemies. We owe the truth about the past to the public; we owe preparedness for the future to the next generations.