GBD 2023 Assessment Workshop for Italy

This content was translated from Italian with assistance from generative AI technology.

On March 17 and 18, 2025, a two-day workshop dedicated to the assessment of the new estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) for Italy took place in Bologna. The event was organized by the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences of the University of Bologna and the Clinical Epidemiology and Research on Health Services of the Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare (IRCCS) Maternal and Child Health Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, as part of the Italian GBD Initiative, with the contribution of the International Health Programme - ProMIS (Programming 2023–2025).

The Italian GBD Initiative, coordinated by Dr. Lorenzo Monasta (IRCCS Maternal and Child Health Burlo Garofolo of Trieste) and Prof. Cristiana Abbafati (Department of Legal, Philosophical, and Economic Studies, Sapienza University of Rome), brings together over 180 Italian GBD Collaborators. During the workshop, the new GBD 2023 estimates, currently under embargo and exclusively accessible to the Italian study Collaborators, were presented and analyzed. These estimates update and replace the previous GBD 2021.

The event also featured Prof. Mohsen Naghavi and Mr. Johan Månsson from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, the global coordinating body of the GBD study.

More than 60 GBD Collaborators from all over Italy participated in the event, representing 20 research institutes. Among these, in addition to the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo and the University of Bologna, were experts from:

• The Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità)
• The IRCCS’s Mario Negri and Carlo Besta
• UniCamillus in Rome
• The Universities of Bari Aldo Moro, Catania, Foggia, Milan, Milano-Bicocca, Pavia, and Pisa
• Area Science Park of Trieste
• The Department of Epidemiology of the Regional Health Service of Lazio
• The General Directorate for Personal Care, Health, and Welfare of the Emilia-Romagna Region
• The Local Health Authority of Toscana Centro and Romagna
• The Institute for the Study, Prevention, and Oncological Network of Tuscany
• The Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Research Council in Pisa

The first day opened with a presentation by Prof. Mohsen Naghavi on the GBD 2023 methodological changes. Participants were then divided into working groups, focused on diseases, risk factors, and epidemiological areas, to analyze and assess the new estimates in relation to their respective fields of expertise.

During the second day, the results of the analyses conducted in the groups were shared in a plenary session. The meeting began with a speech by Mr. Johan Månsson, Engagement Officer at IHME, who presented new initiatives to strengthen collaboration between IHME and the GBD Collaborators. Among the topics addressed were improving the feedback system on GBD estimates and data sources, implementing new analyses, and promoting the publication of studies based on GBD estimates.

Of particular note is that, for the first time, the GBD regional estimates for Italy will be made publicly available. This represents a fundamental opportunity to improve the alignment of estimates with the best available data and to promote their use in public health, health planning, and reducing inequalities.