Worldwide, the management of health emergencies requires a high degree of preparedness and resilience on the part of governments and health systems. Indeed, disasters are becoming increasingly common, with significant health, social, and economic impacts. Living in a globalized world also means that emergencies that occur in one country often have an international, in some cases global, spread: the COVID-19 pandemic is a cogent example. The key elements in emergency management are central governance, coordination, investment of resources before the emergency occurs, and preparedness to deal with it at all levels. However, several factors might condition the response to the emergency, highlighting, as for Italy, strengths and weaknesses. In this context, policies and regulation of actions to be implemented at international and national level must be up-to-date, clear, transparent and, above all, feasible and implementable. Likewise, the allocation of resources to develop adequate preparedness plans is critical. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission proposed the temporary recovery instrument NextGenerationEU, as well as a targeted reinforcement of the European Union’s long-term budget for the period 2021–2027. The pandemic highlighted that it is necessary to interrupt the continuous defunding of the health sector, allocating funds especially in prevention, training and information activities: indeed, a greater and more aware public attention on health risks and on the impacts of emergencies can help to promote virtuous changes, sharing contents and information that act as a guide for the population.

The COVID-19 vaccination has proven to be the most effective prevention measure, reducing deaths and hospitalizations and allowing, in combination with non-pharmacological interventions, the pandemic to be tackled. Although most of the adverse reactions to vaccination present mild symptoms and serious effects are very rare, they can be the cause of legal action against the healthcare workers (HCWs) who administered it. To highlight differences in the medical liability systems, we performed a search for the three most populous countries in each continent on vaccine injury compensation programs, new laws or policies to protect HCWs administering vaccinations introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and policies on mandatory vaccinations, on literature databases and institutional sites. We found that in seven countries the medical liability system is based on Common Law, while in eleven it is mainly based on Civil Law. Considering the application of specific laws to protect HCWs who vaccinate during the pandemic, only the USA and Canada provided immunity from liability. Among the countries we analyzed, fourteen have adopted compensation funds. From an international perspective, our results highlight that in eleven (61.1%) countries medical liability is mainly based on Civil Law, whilst in seven (38.9%) it is based on Common Law.

Con la creazione del Ministero della Transizione Ecologica si assume una nuova consapevolezza sulla sostenibilità intesa non solo quale tutela dei fattori ambientali ma come vera e propria transizione verde. Tale concetto è il fulcro dell'Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite e del Green Deal comunitario che stabiliscono obiettivi green il cui perseguimento è stato recentemente rafforzato dai diversi strumenti finanziari comunitari. A livello nazionale, già gli strumenti di mercato consentivano di orientare i flussi economici verso pratiche "verdi" ma il recente Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza può essere ritenuto lo strumento economico necessario a contribuire alla transizione ecologica grazie anche al ruolo dello stesso Ministero.

The EU Directive 5 June 2019, n. 904, aims to promote sustainable reusable products and systems in a circular perspective, reducing the production of disposable products and waste. Abandoned plastics take decades to disintegrate, never disappearing completely from the environment, with serious consequences for human health. A study conducted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or bisphenol A (BPA) can accumulate in microplastics, which are swallowed by humans as well as inhaled or ingested reaching lungs. For instance, it has been estimated that every week we ingest the same amount of microplastics as a credit card. Furthermore, plastic kills and damages biodiversity. Aquatic animals are the most affected, as they are either trapped in man-made plastic waste or they swallow plastics with serious damage to their and the humans' health that eat them. Dangerous are also nanoplastics that can penetrate cell walls and are chemically more reactive. However, Directive 2019/904/EU does not eliminate the use of plastic, setting the percentages of recycled plastics to be used in the manufacture of disposable plastic products. For instance, beverage PET bottles must contain at least 25% of recycled plastic from 2025 and 30% from 2030. Despite the Directive has provided elements for states to legislate in favour of a society that makes less use of plastics, today no zero- plastic society has been created. In order to achieve this 'zero' it is necessary to start from the citizens, raising their awareness through awareness-raising campaigns and the distribution of leaflets and posters on the consequences of the mismanagement of plastic waste (and microplastics) on their health and on the environment. Key messages Raise citizens awareness on the consequences of the mismanagement of plastic waste (and microplastics) on their health and on the environment is fundamental. The importance of the creation of a zero plastic society thanks to the application of Directive 2019/904/EU at international level.