The true challenges of the COVID-19 epidemics. The need for essential levels of care for all

In the last decades, biomedical research and funding supporting it have given a relevant impulse to developing so-called “Personalized Medicine” (PM) and “precision medicine”, leading to the discovery of treatments of unimaginable efficacy up to a few years ago. In most countries, care of excellence is only for those who can afford it, but even in countries with strong national health systems, the commitment to individualized care may have diverted resources and attention from creating systems that guarantee protection for all. Furthermore, the COVID-19 experience suggests that the impact and invasiveness of the epidemic could be amplified by the contagion of the population groups without assistance or with low-level assistance in rich nations and of low-income nations without a minimum health system. We must learn from this lesson that if we fail to guarantee a minimum support for everyone in terms of health services, prevention and treatment, we risk endangering everyone's health, not only that of people without privileges.