Italian mayor bans locals from getting sick

The mayor of a small town in Italy has issued a symbolic decree banning residents from getting sick, local media have reported. Antonio Torchia, the mayor of Belcastro, said the aim of the decree is to draw attention to the severe lack of healthcare services in the town.

Torchia announced the unusual order on local television, calling it an “an ironic provocation,” according to the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Torchia explained that the decree was not meant to be taken literally but was intended rather to underscore the dire situation faced by Belcastro’s 1,300 residents.

The initiative arises from the fact the emergency medical service in the town is intermittent and based on the availability of health personnel, noted the news agency ANSA.

The nearest emergency medical facility is located about 45 km away in Catanzaro, the capital of the Calabria region.

The situation has “deleterious effects” on residents, especially considering that elderly people comprise half of the town’s population, added ANSA.

For this reason, the mayor has “ordered” residents “to avoid contracting any disease that requires medical intervention, especially emergency, and to rest as much as possible.” 

“It would be impossible to guarantee adequate healthcare,” Torchia said during the announcement.

The mayor claimed that he raised the issue with provincial health authorities last year but has not received a reply. “If there is no news soon,” he said he would go to the Public Prosecutor's Office to file a complaint.

The symbolic decree comes against the backdrop of a broader healthcare crisis in Calabria, where 18 hospitals have closed since 2009.

The region of Calabria, located at the tip of Italy's boot, is one of the least populated and poorest areas in the country. Media reports have claimed that its healthcare system has been undermined by political mismanagement and mafia involvement. The region was placed under special administration by the central government nearly 15 years ago.