Health Section
Department of Health and Social Welfare
Canton of Ticino

The Sezione sanitaria of the Cantonal Department of Social Affairs of the Canton of Ticino is an administrative and research unit of the public administration.

The office has a number of tasks aimed at assuring, protecting and promoting the health of the population at cantonal level. To do so the office has the responsibility to act as technical consultant to the Government in health and hospital planning.

Recently the office has proposed a new project of law aimed at a systematic review and assessment of the potential impact of new medical technology on the public and private cantonal health care sector. The Sezione sanitaria is also engaged in the front line in promoting and evaluating technologies to promote consumers' "empowerment" in particular regarding a more conscious consumption of and access to medical services.

In this area research on benefit perception of various medical services by the public is under way as well other analyses aimed at measuring changes in consumption willingness according to the amount and the quality of information provided to the consumer-patient. For all those tasks the Sezione sanitaria is accredited as WHO Collaborating Center for health policy and planning.