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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

Partnership and intersectoral actions for safely managed drinking water with health governance

Italian Ministry of Health (
Government
)
#SDGAction50849
Description
Description

Italy is facing increasingly significant water crises affecting vulnerable ecosystems and aquifers, already altered by historical pollution or burdened by considerable human pressure, and water systems with obsolete infrastructures and networks, due to lack of adequate structural and maintenance investments. The evident effects are impacting on the availability and quality of water resources in many territorial circumstances of the country, endangering the balance and livelihood of ecosystems, putting at risk sanitation and health services and the safety of water use for the human and animal consumption, and endangering strategic production sectors, including primary and food production. In a scenario of such extraordinary complexity, the prevention and response actions functional to achieving SDG 6 and other objectives and targets relating to health and water, looking at the entire UN 2030 Agenda, are based in Italy on a partnership for the sustainable development in full line with SDG 17. A fundamental reform for access to adequate supplies of safe water for human consumption is expressed in the new regulatory framework based on Directive (EU) 2020/2184 on the quality of water for human consumption. Risk analysis as a pillar of the protection of water resources and ecosystems from pollution, control and prevention measures and surveillance of water-related impacts on human health through the entire water supply chain, including distribution in priority buildings, is ensured by a holistic approach with health governance consisting of broad inter-institutional and trans-sectoral partnership, also enhancing communication and information on water and health. The Ministry of Health together with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) plays a role of guidance and coordination, supported by the Italian Institutes of Health and Environmental Research (ISS, ISPRA) National and Regional, engaging the Regional and Territorial Authorities, and with a pivotal role in the function of the Regulatory Authority (ARERA), in supervising the fundamental cooperation based on due diligence of water suppliers, in the field of technical quality of water and sanitation. The National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) supports the access to data by the general population and monitors the implementation of the SDGs. A transversal national initiative for water and health, conducted by the Ministry of Health and MASE with the support of ISS, ISPRA and SNPA, is the draft law to implement the UNECE/WHO "Water and Health" Protocol that Italy signed on June 17, 1999. This provision would allow the country to include the many activities it already carries out in the water and health sector, in a single and coherent reference regulatory framework, also taking into account the role that Italy is playing for many years in the framework of the activities of the Protocol under the auspices of UNECE/WHO in coordinating the Program “Resilience of water systems to climate change” in co-leadership with the Netherlands.

Expected Impact

The actual national scenario and expected trend, as also proved by the increasing multiple water crises in Italy, is undoubtedly indicating that unprecedented environmental and climate determinants are jeopardizing the objective of ensuring access to clean and safe water supplies to everyone. A new strategy is therefore under developing, based on science-informed policymaking, carried out at governmental, regional and local level, involving the whole water sector, civil society, academia and third sector and encompassing each accelerator areas for water agenda, such as financing, capacity development, governance, data, innovation. The reform of the legislation on quality of water for human consumption, transposing directive (EU) 2020/2184, ancillary regulatory acts and guidelines is the pillar of the framework through which managing safely drinking water, assuring water quality and enhancing consumer trust. The introduction of a holistic evidence-based prevention approach, according to the extensive risk analysis from the water catchment environments to the water consumption, considering any effect of human exposure, represents a cultural revolution in collective health prevention policies in the water sector. On the other hand, this "new approach" is in line with the evolution of the policies expressed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute for Health, which conceive actions and objectives not only towards the progress of knowledge on the diagnosis and treatment of pathologies but also on research and control for the reduction and control of the negative impact of environmental determinants on health. Through the risk analysis carried out by standardized "water safety plans", subjected to National approval, a converging dialogue is achieved with the health leadership for all sectors which, at different levels, influence the objective of ensuring safe and accessible water, according to principles of equity and sustainability. The process promotes, at different level and by different stakeholders, governance of water systems centred on the quality of water and services, investments in infrastructure endorsed through incentives in terms of regulation, development of knowledge and innovation, management and analysis of data through new information systems. According to the new legislation two essential strategic actions are defined to ensure safely managed drinking water provisions, universal access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and enhanced monitoring and efficient management, communication of data, thus guaranteeing access to the information for the public, and the exchange of data and communications between the competent environmental and health authorities and the operators of the drinking water sector. Firstly, the National Center for Water Safety (CeNSiA) is instituted, divided into four functional areas: microbiological and virological risk; chemical risk; coordination, management and access to data; assessment and approval of water safety plans. A centralized health information system is also established, called "Dynamic Territorial Registry of Drinking Water (AnTeA)", fully interlinked with the environmental system containing the data produced by regional and provincial agencies for the protection of the environment and transmitted to ISPRA by the autonomous regions and provinces.

Partners

Regions and Autonomous Provinces, SNPS (National System for Prevention in Health-Environment and Climate), SNPA (National System for Environmental Protection), ISS (National Institute for Health), ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), ARERA (Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment), Regional, Interregional and National Basin Authorities, Department of Civil Protection, ISTAT (National Statistician Institute) MASE (Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security)

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Timeline
01 January 2023 (start date)
31 December 2025 (date of completion)
Entity
Italian Ministry of Health
SDGs
Region
  1. Europe
Other beneficiaries

Resident population in Italy, Mediterranean people (indirect), Global community (indirect).

Countries
Italy
Italy
Contact Information

Giovanni, General Manager of Health Prevention (Ministry of Health)