"I served my country with discipline and honour, always putting the nation’s best interests first. I gave all of my energy. Never hold back. It was a very challenging period. But the country stood firm. It discovered within itself the strength to react, respond, organize, and recover from the situation". This was stated by Roberto Speranza, Minister of Health during the Covid era under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in his address to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the management of the health emergency caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. "We were the first in the Western world to make unprecedented decisions, later becoming a point of reference for other European countries", the former minister said, adding: "The primary guiding principle was the primacy of people's lives over all other considerations". Speranza also criticised the current government led by Giorgia Meloni: "I disagreed with the decision to abstain (along with Iran, Russia, and Israel) from the global pandemic agreement in May 2025, in the name of a form of health sovereignty that appeared to ignore reality". In his closing remarks, Speranza quoted Pope Francis, who said, "The only thing worse than this crisis is the risk of wasting it". He recalled asking himself how such a thing could happen, adding: "He was right. But I will never tire of repeating it: we must not waste it. And I still want to remain optimistic".