In 2024, health poverty in Italy hit hard, with 463 thousand people having to rely on welfare organizations affiliated with the Banco Farmaceutico to receive free essential medicines and treatments. This is an 8% increase over the previous year, a sign of a growing problem that involves more and more Italians. These data emerge from the book "Between the Cracks of Universalism - Health Inequalities, Health Poverty and the Third Sector in Italy", edited by the Health Poverty Observatory. The report highlights how drug spending represents an increasingly unsustainable burden for many families. In 2023, the total amount to be borne by households reached €10.65 billion, marking an increase of €731 million compared to €9.91 billion in 2022. Over the past seven years (2017-2023), pharmaceutical spending borne by households has increased by €2.576 billion, an increase of 31.9%. Suffering the most are men (54% of the sample compared to 46% of women) and adults aged 18-64 (58%). Also of concern is the condition of children: about 102,000 children and youth live in health poverty, accounting for a quarter of those in need.