For 160 years, the women and men of the Navy Health Corps have been working on board naval units and in ground health services to preserve the health of the crews. They are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists, biologists, veterinarians and health technicians who daily contribute to the achievement of the mission, to maintain the most important weapon system of the Armed Force, the personnel, in efficiency.
From medical selection visits, to periodic fitness checks, from prevention activities to diagnosis and treatment, without detracting from the increasingly decisive role that technology represents in the current medical-scientific context, it is the health professionals who are the fulcrum of the medical instrument of the Navy, whose birth certificate must be identified with the regulation which, on 1 April 1861, Cavour, President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Navy, presented the King to His Majesty to give an order unitary to the Sanitary Corps of the fleets of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Since then, the history of the Navy's Sanitary Corps has been progressively enriched by the examples of many very valued professionals who have contributed in a decisive way as well as to outline the structure of healthcare as we know it today but above all to give prestige and prestige to the institution and Nation. We cannot fail to mention, on this occasion, Raffaele Paolucci, Bruno Falcomatà and Giulio Venticinque whose heroic exploits have always been a source of inspiration and a beacon for the youngest.
In recent years, the professional contribution has continued intensively which, beyond the routine activities of the institute aimed at guaranteeing support for the operational and training activities of the Navy, have seen the maritime military Sanitary Corps as protagonist; from medical support following the sinking of the Concordia ship in 2012 to the tireless activities of the Mare Nostrum operation which in 376 days of activity provided assistance to over 155 migrants. From the "A sea of smiles" project carried out in collaboration with the volunteer doctors of the Operation Smile Italia Onlus foundation to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments that the Taranto hospital center has been providing to the Apulian civilian population since 2014, without forgetting the commitment that sees everyone involved in support to regional health care for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which for a year has radically changed our lives.
In all these activities and behind the statistics there are the names of many operators, all united by the desire to be able to serve the country to the best of their ability, showing great dedication, sense of duty and ethics on every occasion.
