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Urban air pollution is associated with a wide range of acute and chronic health effects. The objective of the present study was to examine trends (1999-2013) of air pollutant concentrations in the urban area of Rome and to assess the relationship between the concentrations of these pollutants. A statistically significant decreasing trend over time of NO2, PM10, benzene CO concentrations was observed. In particular, the most relevant decreases were found for benzene and for CO. Analysis of the correlation between pollutants showed that Pearson's correlation coefficients of pollutants were positive. Time trend analysis showed a significant improvement of air quality in Rome in the last years that may be attributable to improvements in car, truck and bus motor technologies and to the application of Green Infrastructure planning.

Increased participation in cancer screening programs is undoubtedly a primary objective in Public Health. The Green and Kreuter model, structured in an Access program, was presented to the Regional Coordinators for cancer screening during specific training events. This survey was carried out to verify their appreciation of the model and whether those who participated in the project intended to use the program.

Aim: The aim was of this pilot study was to validate a questionnaire to collect information on the number of health professionals, doctors and veterinarians working in the Departments of Prevention, Health Districts and Hospital Directions, their sociodemographic characteristics and cultural-background, define their educational needs, and subsequently extending the study to the maximum number of professionals in the classified services under study., Methods: The survey was conducted through the use of a questionnaire, designed and prepared by the working group and subsequently reported on-line. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was measured by Cronbach's alpha., Results: Overall, 128 health professionals were enrolled in the study. Their mean age was 57.5 years; 83.6% have a medical degree and 6.3% a degree in veterinary medicine. Most participants (64.8%) are employed by a Health District, 21.1% work in a Department of Prevention and 2.3% are part of a hospital clinical management staff. 32.3% are specialists in only one area, and, in particular, 22% of the sample is a Public Health specialist, 4% respectively are specialists in Occupational Medicine and Forensic Medicine. The alpha values for each section were, for Section A, 0.914; Section B, 0.963; Section C, 0.802; and Section D, 0.945., Conclusion: The questionnaire was shown to have good internal reliability. Identifying the educational needs of public health professionals, and the innovative and emerging issues that impact public health is essential to allow for National Health Service staff to be able to respond to the rapid cultural changes that characterize the current global health context.

Urban air pollution is known to cause numerous health problems. The HEREPLUS project aims to evaluate the association between environmental air pollution and health and to provide guidelines for the management and organization of the urban environment. Risk maps were developed by georeferentiation, using hospitalization data and concentration levels of ozone and pollution matter. Data for four European cities involved in the project (Rome, Madrid, Dresden, and Athens) were analysed for the period 2003-2004. In this article, we report results for Rome only. Study findings demonstrated that the green area in a city reduces pollution in a city reduces pollution levels in the atmosphere, thus reducing health risks.

A questionnaire study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing medical education course on influenza vaccination, held in October 2011, in changing physicians', medical students' and other health care workers' attitudes towards receiving vaccination for seasonal influenza. The questionnaire contained questions regarding influenza, influenza vaccination, and attitudes towards vaccination. Results show that course participants were more likely to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza in 2011 (i.e. following the course) with respect to 2010 and that all professional categories, except students, were positively influenced by the course.

The stewardship model has been adopted as a system of governance in several countries. In Italy, the Ministry of Health has proposed the use of the stewardship model for implementing the activities of the National Prevention Plan 2010-2012. The authors present the conceptual foundations and methodology used in the development of an assessment tool (audit tool) for evaluating the level of implementation of the stewardship model with regards to the activities of the national prevention plan in all Italian regions.