Rethinking primary care within a One Health strategy: reflections and proposals

Law No. 833/1978 created the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN) and placed general practitioners (GPs) at the center of local primary care as self-employed professionals operating un-der an agreement with the public health system. Decades of policy-led efforts have struggled to fully integrate GPs into the local healthcare services network established by the 1978 re-form. This article offers reflections and proposals aimed at reimagining primary care and the role of general medicine in Italy through a One Health perspective, framed as a field of actors and practices triggered by the shifts of a risk society. Within this framework, two key strategic pillars emerge: the first concerns choices between “good” and “bad” prevention, while the second emphasizes the role of place-based policies in driving and enabling change.