In Naples, the street health workers are at risk of disappearing.

Not everyone knows it, but even in Naples there are doctors, nurses and social-health workers who work directly in the neighborhoods every day, in the street, next to the most people fragile. It's street unit, healthcare teams that provide assistance and social-health interventions to places where traditional services often fail to reach.

Over time, the presence of these teams has allowed us to intercept situations of strong fragility and healthcare needs that would otherwise remain invisible, thanks to collaboration between public institutions and third-sector organizations. This work, built over the years, has brought healthcare directly to the city's most complex communities and contexts.

But today this service risks stoppingThe risk arises from a decision of theASL Naples 1, which has decided the interruption of the new tender for these services, extending the current assignment only until August. Without a stable solution, street units are at risk of stopping. It would mean losing a health facility that operates every day in the neighborhoods, alongside people who often cannot access ordinary healthcare pathways.

This is why it was launched a public petition asking for protect the integrated model between public institutions and the third sector and restore street units, so that doctors, nurses and operators can continue to work in the territory.

What do street units actually do?

Le street unit They intervene in places where people who are often excluded from the healthcare system live or are located. We are talking above all about homeless people, people with addictions, migrants in vulnerable conditions and citizens living in situations of severe marginalizationIn many cases these are people who they do not have a reference doctor and never come into contact with clinics or hospitals.

During street interventions, doctors, nurses and social health workers carry out very concrete health activities: They treat wounds, control infections, monitor health conditions and distribute medical supplies. Often the first intervention consists of identify health problems that have not received any medical attention for a long time.

A fundamental role in preventing the emergence of epidemics from below

The work of the street units also has an important effect on the public healthIntervening on people who remain outside the health system means prevent the spread of infections, diseases and health situations that could turn into difficult-to-intercept outbreaksWithout direct contact on the ground, many health conditions would remain invisible to the health system.

The street units also have an active role in supporting the abandoned

A fundamental part of the work then concerns theaccompaniment to health services. Operators help people to book appointments, find your way around clinics and public facilities, and begin treatment plans, especially when social conditions make it difficult to deal with the health system alone.

Among the most frequent interventions of the street units are:

• basic health care and on-site medication
• health condition monitoring
• health prevention activities
• distribution of medical supplies
• accompaniment to clinics and public services

It is precisely thanks to this presence in the neighborhoods that the street units are able to intercept health problems before they become emergencies, protecting not only the most vulnerable people but the entire community.

What is the integrated model between the public and third sectors in healthcare and why should it be preserved?

The street units in Naples exist thanks to a integrated model between public health and the third sectorThe public health system defines interventions, finances services, and ensures their coordination. Third sector organizations, on the other hand, implement operators, skills and daily presence in the territories, working directly in the most difficult neighborhoods and contexts of the city.

This model has allowed us to build over the years health services that do not remain closed inside structures and clinics, but which also manage to reach those who live outside of traditional care pathways. It is precisely thanks to the collaboration between the public and social organizations that it has been possible to organize street units capable of intervening rapidly, building relationships with the most vulnerable people and accompanying them towards health services.

The integrated model works precisely because it unites public responsibility and operational capacity on the territoryThe health system maintains the direction of the interventions, while the third sector guarantees flexibility, constant presence and direct knowledge of the most complex social contexts.

Losing this balance would mean weaken a system that over the years has allowed us to intercept health needs that would otherwise remain invisibleIt's not just about the organization of services: what's at stake is the possibility of continue to provide public healthcare even to places where the healthcare system struggles to reach.

A petition calling for the reinstatement of street units

To prevent this system from being interrupted, a public petition asking for protect the integrated model between public health and the third sector and guarantee the continuity of street units in NaplesThe goal is clear: to allow healthcare workers working in the neighborhoods to continue providing services that over the years have been a benchmark for many vulnerable situations.

The risk, in the absence of clear decisions by the institutions, is that of lose a health service that operates directly in the territory, precisely in contexts where the traditional healthcare system struggles to reach. Street units do not only represent a social intervention, but also a tool for health prevention and public health protection.

Through the petition the promoters ask the competent institutions to ensure continuity of service and preserve the collaboration model between the public and third sectors which has made this type of intervention possible over the years.

Signing the petition means support the continuity of street units and defend a health facility that works every day in the city's neighborhoods.