People living in an Italian village are forbidden to get sick.
Residents of Belcastro in the southern region of Calabria – one of the poorest regions in Italy – “are ordered to avoid contracting any illness that may require urgent medical assistance,” according to a decree from Mayor Antonio Torchia.
The ordinance also instructs residents not to take risks or get into accidents that could end up endangering their health, local media reported.
It is advised that they stay at home as much as possible and do not leave to travel or play sports.
Residents were ordered “not to engage in behaviors that may be harmful and avoid accidents in the household” and “not to leave the house frequently, travel or practice sports and [instead] rest most of the time.”
Torchia said the rule is “definitely a humorous provocation” — but it has more of an effect than emergency notifications to regional authorities about the village’s lack of access to health care.
It’s unclear how the rules will be enforced — if they are enforced at all.
But speaking to Italian television, he added: “This is not just a provocation.”
“The ordinance is a call for help, a way to shine a spotlight on an unacceptable situation.”
Since Belcastro is in a remote region, emergency care is not available at night or on holidays, the health care clinic is often closed, and the nearest emergency room is in Catanzaro, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) away, Torchia said.
He told Italian television that it is difficult to “feel safe when you know that if you need help, your only hope is to get [Accident & Emergency] in time”, adding that the roads were almost “more dangerous than any disease”.
About half of Belcastro’s 1,200 residents are 65 or older, making access to health care a necessity for the aging population.
Since 2009, an alarming 18 of the region’s hospitals have closed, forcing people to seek medical help outside the area.
“If we don’t provide essential services, these cities, these villages will die within 10 years,” Torchia said.
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