Only one doctor for 2,300 inhabitants, protests begin in Molise

The town is left with only one doctor and the mayor warns the local health authority by simultaneously launching a popular petition. This is what is happening in Portocannone, a municipality with just over 2,300 inhabitants in the province of Campobasso which, since last summer, has been left without basic healthcare, with only one doctor left after the retirement of an elderly colleague. A professional who, inevitably, has already largely exceeded the ordinary maximum number of clients.

What made the situation even more difficult was the transfer of a doctor - who worked in nearby Campomarino - to whom numerous citizens of Portocannone also turned for prescriptions and requests for specialist visits. The discussions initiated by the municipal administration with the regional health company (Asrem) have so far not produced a concrete solution, thus causing controversy in the town. The Municipality had also made a room available to facilitate the arrival of a new family doctor, without obtaining results.

Faced with the lack of healthcare, therefore, the mayor Francesco Gallo decided to move on to formal initiatives. With council resolution number of 5 November, it ordered both the assignment to the lawyer Vincenzo Rosario Iacovino, of the Campobasso Court, to prepare a warning against the Asrem, and the launch of a popular petition in support of the municipal mobilization. The act also provides for the reservation of further initiatives to protect the community.

According to what the mayor reported, Asrem did not even receive a timetable for interventions to overcome the emergency. "We are in a condition of objective difficulty for a significant part of the community - he explained - with the risk that many residents will not be able to access general medical services promptly and continuously. The activities linked to medical visits, pharmaceutical prescriptions and monitoring of chronic pathologies, in addition to other primary care services, are particularly exposed".

The promoters of the petition are Irene Candolini, of the 'San Pio' Pharmacy, Antonello Vigliotti, Giovanni Antenucci and Sabrina Acciaro. The collection of signatures will also take place in the council room of the Municipality on Saturday 14 and 21 November, from 9 to 12. "The protection of the right to health - concluded the mayor - remains one of the priority objectives of this administration". Because health, as stated in the Italian Constitution, remains a "fundamental right" of every individual.