Belcastro's Mayor Antonio Torchia has humorously ordered residents to avoid illness as a way to draw attention to the village's failing healthcare services, exacerbated by lack of accessibility and staff shortages.
Italian Mayor Jokes About Illness in Village to Highlight Healthcare Crisis
Italian Mayor Jokes About Illness in Village to Highlight Healthcare Crisis
In a humorous decree, Mayor Antonio Torchia of Belcastro, Italy, calls for residents to avoid serious illness, emphasizing dire healthcare shortages.
In a unique and provocative move, the mayor of Belcastro, a small village in southern Italy, has issued a decree instructing residents to avoid becoming seriously ill. With a population of around 1,200, many of whom are elderly, the village struggles with limited healthcare facilities, making the nearest Accident & Emergency department over 45 kilometers away. Mayor Antonio Torchia describes this decree as "obviously a humorous provocation" meant to shed light on the inadequacies of the local healthcare system rather than a genuine order that could be enforced.
The village's medical services are severely lacking; the on-call doctor is available only sporadically, and there is no medical assistance during weekends or holidays. Torchia emphasized the anxiety felt by residents knowing that the only means of assistance requires navigating a road with a 30 km/h speed limit—one that poses its own risks.
In addition to avoiding illness, the decree also admonishes residents against engaging in potentially harmful behaviors, discouraging travel, sports activities, or frequent outings, effectively promoting a lifestyle of caution and inactivity as a purported health measure. Costa Calabrese, a region known for its poverty and rampant issues related to mafia interference, has seen numerous hospitals shut down since 2009, resulting in many locals seeking medical care outside their region.
It has become a pressing issue as almost half of Calabria's near two million population now exists under prolonged waiting lists, with few medical personnel to tend to affordable care needs. In a bid to tackle this crisis, Cuba has agreed to send nearly 500 doctors to the region over three years, a temporary solution that Governor Roberto Occhiuto claims has already “saved” many healthcare facilities.
Locals have expressed support for Mayor Torchia’s bold statement, believing that it could
