section_path: Demographics/Health
section_name: Health
paragraph_text: Health
  
  Life expectancy is 80 for men and 85 for women, placing the country 5th in the world. Compared to other Western countries, Italy has a low rate of adult obesity (below 10%), as there are health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. In 2013, UNESCO, prompted by Italy, added the Mediterranean diet to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Italy, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Croatia. The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2012, down from 24% in 2000 but above the OECD average. Since 2005, smoking in public places has been restricted to "specially ventilated rooms".
  
  Since 1978, the state has run a universal public healthcare system. However, healthcare is provided to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which is organised under the Ministry of Health and administered on a devolved regional basis. Healthcare spending accounted for 10% of GDP in 2020. Italy's healthcare system has been consistently ranked among the best in the world. However, in 2018 Italy's healthcare was ranked 20th in Europe by the Euro health consumer index.