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People living in an Italian village are banned from getting 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 emergency medical assistance,” a decree from Mayor Antonio Torchia stated.
The ordinance also instructs residence not to take risks or get in accidents that could end up endangering their health, local media reported.
It has been advised that they stay home as much as possible and not leave to travel or play sports.
Residents were ordered “not to engage in behaviors that may be harmful and to avoid domestic accidents” and “not to leave the house too often, travel or practice sports, and to [instead] rest for the majority of the time.”
Torchia said the rule is “obviously a humorous provocation” — but it’s having more of an effect than urgent notices to regional authorities about the village’s lack of access to healthcare.
It’s unclear how the rules would be enforced — if they’re enforced at all.
But speaking to Italian TV, he added, “This is not just a provocation.”
“The ordinance is a cry for help, a way to shine a spotlight on an unacceptable situation.”
Since Belcastro is in a remote region, emergency care is not available overnight or on holidays, the healthcare clinic is often closed, and the nearest emergency room is in Catanzaro, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) away, Torchia said.
He told Italian TV that it is hard to “feel safe when you know that if you need assistance, your only hope is to make it to [Accident & Emergency] on time,” adding that the roads were almost “more of a risk than any illness.”
About half of Belcastro’s 1,200 residents are 65 or older, making access to healthcare a necessity for the aging population.
Since 2009, an alarming 18 of the region’s hospitals have closed, forcing people to seek medical assistance outside the area.
“If we do not provide essential services, these towns, these villages, will die within 10 years,” Torchia said.
