For many tests, including mammography, the average waiting time is about a year and a half. This sort of thing has been going on for years and years, along with other forms of inefficiency and outright malpractice.
Does this mean that the Italian system is worse than ours? No, I don't think so. Medical errors are rife in America, also. Italians can often make up for the shortcomings by also utilizing private facilities- but at least they are all covered for accidents and catastrophic illness, and the infamous and immoral pre-existing condition proviso doesn't exist. Nowhere on earth is there a health care system that is not problematic.
