Feeling under the weather? If you're a resident of the Italian village of Belcastro, you're breaking the law—kind of. Mayor Antonio Torchia has announced that locals are "ordered to avoid contracting any illness that may require emergency medical assistance," as well as to avoid any accidents and "not to leave the house too often, travel, or practice sports," per the BBC. If that seems like a harsh (and impossible) ask, that's because it's actually a joke of sorts, but in the service of calling attention to very real health-care issues for those who live in the small Calabrian town of 1,200.
Torchia's self-proclaimed "humorous provocation" addresses the fact that Belcastro—located in one of Italy's poorest regions and made up of many elderly residents—doesn't offer any kind of emergency care on the weekends or holidays, with the nearest ER nearly 30 miles away. Plus, the only road to that ER has an 18mph speed limit, meaning it will take rule-followers a good amount of time to get there. In addition to being financially strapped, Calabria's health care system has also suffered from political chaos and mafia meddling.
For at least two years, the Calabrian government has even been recruiting doctors from Cuba to try and fill the gaps. Torchia says that his jokey ban has drawn more attention from regional health authorities and politicians than the "dozens of emails" he has sent to them over the "delicate and difficult situation," per the Jerusalem Post. "This is not just a provocation," Torchia told local media, per Euronews. "The ordinance is a cry for help, a way to shine a spotlight on an unacceptable situation." He added, "If we do not provide essential services, these towns, these villages, will die within 10 years." (More strange stuff stories.)
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