Ilaria Capua won the 2014 Excellence Award

Pubblicato il 08/03/2014Read time: 2 mins

Ilaria Capua will receive the 2014 Excellence Award for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, conferred by the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

This prestigious European institution decided to bestow such an Excellence Award to the Italian scientist for her intense scientific activity but, most of all, for the key role she played within international committees by launching global initiative and challenging consolidated mechanisms in favour of new paradigms, to the benefit of public health.

This is the first time ever that a woman receives the ESCMID's Excellence Award, which will be given to Ilaria Capua on May 12^th in Barcelona and will be forerun by a Lectio Magistralis entitled "Close Encounters of the Third Kind - viruses and globalisation".

"This award represents a great satisfaction for me. ESCMID is the largest society for microbiologists and experts in infectious diseases in Europe and they decided to confer me such a prize for my scientific contribute to the discipline and my struggle to bring innovative policies in public health," explained the virologist and researcher, currently member of the Italian parliament and vicepresident of the board for culture of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. "I would like to dedicate it to all Italian women working in research, for the International Women's Day, in order to witness that an Italian woman may also be the first European woman to win such an eminent award."

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prossimo articolo

Italy and Cuba: the right to health is a common founding principle

di Maurizio Bonati

Pubblicato il 01/07/2026

From Article 32 of the Italian Constitution to Article 72 of the Cuban Constitution, the universal right to health provides the common ground on which Italy and Cuba have built - despite profoundly different political and economic contexts - healthcare systems based on primary care, prevention, and community-based services. These models, while currently facing delays and significant challenges, invite reflection on how the protection of health remains one of the most important indicators of a country's level of civilization, social justice, and the quality of its democracy.

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Article 32, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic states that: health is a fundamental and collective right; the Republic guarantees access to care; the right to health cannot be transferred or ceded: it is inalienable and inalienable; it is a universal right, belonging to all, without discrimination; it is a subjective right of the individual; it is irreducible and essential.