10% of soldiers in the Navy are women, prevention at the center of Women's Health Day

The Italian Navy is increasingly colored pink. Women now make up about 10% of the staff. “A profound cultural change is underway in the Armed Forces and military healthcare. Once considered an exclusively male environment, it has been able to be inclusive and transform itself, paying the utmost attention to its women, both military and civilian, including mothers, wives and daughters, with a view to family and collective well-being, with positive effects on everyone's daily life and consequently also on military work”. She pointed it out Nicoletta Gandolfo, president-elect of the Italian Society of Medical Radiology (Sirm) for the two-year period 2025-26, speaking at the prevention awareness day for women in the Navypromoted by the Health Inspectorate and the Navy Schools Command this morning in Rome for the National Women's Health Day.

“On April 22, the National Women's Health Day is celebrated in Italy, established and promoted on the initiative of the Ministry of Health and the Atena Onlus Foundation, we are in its ninth edition – recalled the admiral Antonio Dondolini Poli, chief inspector of the Navy Medical Corps – As underlined by the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, the protection of women's health is an integral part of the universality of the National Health Service and we must take care of it because their well-being is the basis of the full development of our society. For this reason, and to highlight the fundamental role of prevention, we have designed and organized this first edition of the event 'The Navy takes care of differences', i.e. a prevention awareness day for Navy women, both civilian and military”.

An event which, Gandolfo continues, “testifies to the profound cultural change of the Armed Forces and military healthcare. And which unfolds in synergy with the event promoted by the Ministry of Health at the Casa del cinema in Rome to celebrate this day: both initiatives are aimed at protecting a precious heritage, the health and well-being of our women”.

“Health is a fundamental component of our lives, a crucial value for individual and collective well-being. The World Health Organization defines it as 'a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not simply the absence of disease'. Enjoy of good health allows an individual to face daily activities with satisfaction, to relate positively with others and to face life's challenges – remarks Gandolfo – And what promotes individual and collective health and well-being? Prevention, or rather that set of actions and activities that aim to reduce mortality, morbidity or the effects due to certain risk factors or a certain pathology”.

This is the case of tumors, which “have a significant incidence and still represent one of the main causes of death among women, despite the fact that in recent years there has been a decrease in mortality and an improvement in curability. Female oncological pathologies, despite This continues to develop and spread, especially breast cancer, but also colorectal, cervical and lung cancer. It is therefore essential to guarantee access to quality medical care, disease prevention and the promotion of women's well-being all ages. Raising public awareness and promoting awareness to protect women's health is the primary objective of today's event, also through the dissemination of correct information and good practices to be implemented, in the awareness of how prevention, through early diagnosis, plays a fundamental and strategic role in the greater effectiveness of the treatment of a disease and the quality of life”.

There are numerous initiatives promoted by the Navy for women's health. Among the most advanced ones, illustrated during the conference, the opening of a gynecology clinic and the acquisition of equipment for the treatment of some pathologies of the female sphere, which concern the pelvic floor.