National networks
National Autism Observatory (Osservatorio Nazionale Autismo, OssNA)
Established in 2016, through funding from the National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of the Directorate General for Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health, the National Autism Observatory promotes interventions aimed at ensuring health protection, improvement of living conditions and inclusion in the social life of people on the autism spectrum. The National Observatory carries out research and institutional activities to support the Central Administrations in the definition and promotion of system actions and strategic policies for taking charge of people on the autism spectrum and / or with intellectual disabilities in all ages of life.
National Network for the Surveillance of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in the General and High-Risk Population (0-3 years)
The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and the Ministry of Health collaborate in an integrated manner with the Regions and Autonomous Provinces to implement prevention and surveillance strategies for the general and high-risk population in the national health system. Art. 3, paragraph 2e of the Ministerial Decree of 2016 provides for the establishment of a coordination network between pediatricians of free choice, staff working in kindergartens / kindergartens, neonatal intensive care / neonatologies and child neuropsychiatry units. The ultimate goal of the network is to promote the early diagnosis and intervention of neurodevelopmental disorders through specific training programs and the promotion of a protocol for the recognition/evaluation of early behavioral abnormalities in the general population (through pediatric health balances) and high-risk (siblings of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, premature and small by gestational age).
