“It was a broad, qualified and participatory discussion, which kept many councilors, but also health sector workers, glued to their chairs for many hours. And it is certainly a positive sign, the exercise of democracy is regardless a constructive fact , it is never a missed opportunity. I would perhaps have expected a more ambitious debate, of greater institutional quality, but it was a two-phase council, with a first part perhaps tainted by excessive awe and a second which was partly spoiled. of the council was dominated by one attitude defensive, dictated by the desire to protect one’s political party. There should be no divisions on these issues, we would have expected all the councilors to be united in recognizing the problems that exist and in the need to identify the solutions. Exactly as happened in the past when at the Conference of Mayors of the ASP we promoted a choral commitment far beyond political or party barriers”. This is what he said Mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà speaking on the sidelines of today’s open session of the Reggio Calabria City Council dedicated to the topic of healthcare.
“On the part of the majority – added the mayor – there was no partisan attitude, they didn’t just want to point the finger at anyone, but they worked with the attitude of wanting to solve the problems. What is certain is that if you don’t notes that many things need to be improved, on the issue of guaranteeing the right to health, it is clear that we cannot get to the bottom of it. The problems are there for all to see and this is demonstrated by the daily outings of many associations and committees. It is up to us to suggest solutions, turning to the authorities who have the task of dealing with these problems.”
“Today’s Council approves a balanced document – explained the mayor – which crystallizes the commitment of the institutions, even if not directly responsible, which are called into question in order to encourage different attention on the topic in the dialectic and public debate of healthcare, which goes beyond an accounting approach linked exclusively to the logic of cuts. I am thinking of the issue of hospitals, particularly in the more peripheral centres, of the issue of local healthcare, of the risk of closure of polyclinics, of the situation of the Pellaro clinic to give an example, of the issue of psychiatric facilities, of the ambulances which are missing and which are often without doctors, to the medical guards that they would like to halve in the municipalities of the metropolitan area. Finally, I think about how to make our territory more attractive from a professional point of view for doctors, in a historical moment in which differentiated autonomy calls into question the basic rights of citizens. There are regions in Italy that allocate millions of euros to make participation in health competitions more attractive.”
“I believe we must work in this direction, also taking advantage of very important funding that exists and often remains behind. I am thinking – concluded the mayor – of the 270 million euros for the construction of the new hospital in Reggio Calabria. To be clear, it is an investment which is equivalent to three times that of the Maritime Museum and four times the Palace of Justice, so it is the largest investment thought for our city. And it is a right investment because we are talking about the health of citizens, but it is a project that must materialize, otherwise it increases the risk of disillusionment in the community”.
The speech of the president of the municipal council, Enzo Marra
“Thank you for your participatory presence, thanks to those who accepted the invitation of the municipal administration and thanks to those who decided to intervene today at the open municipal council, dedicated to healthcare and the essential right to health. I will be brief I assure you. Precisely to be a concrete example of respect for the times to which we will have to adhere, to give everyone the opportunity to express their point of view. The extraordinary nature of the call, by law, regulated in accordance with the regulation, is given precisely by delicacy of a topic whose priorities mark the thermometer of a looming need that concerns the entire community and for which we do not intend to ignore. Indeed, we are firmly aware of the fact that the right to care, the health and welfare service, represent an outpost of civilization and dignity even before fundamental sectors of our society. In fact, the choice of this City Council brings with it the political will to discuss, listen and intercept possible common paths, so that the meaning of healthcare is never lost. to measure of man built on proximity and territoriality. But the hope is also that, through qualified contributions of the so-called intermediate bodies, to think in proactive terms and shared programmatic points, because, on these battles, the front must be common and there can be no partisan divisions”.
“If you allow me, I just want to make an appeal. Not as President of the highest city meeting, nor from a political profile, but as a citizen and as a man. I ask you to make an effort to work to produce concrete proposals, for a sector – we know – characterized from organizational difficulties, inadequate budgets, lack of healthcare infrastructure, lack of personnel (indeed, to them, on behalf of the City Council, I would like to pay a huge THANK YOU, because we have not forgotten at all when doctors, nurses and workers were in the trenches against the Covid pandemic)and many other complexities that I will not remember here, because probably someone after me will be able to specify better. Let’s do it keeping in mind that, with the insufficiencies of public health, those who pay the consequences the most are the most vulnerable. Often these are people suffering from psychiatric pathologies and above all children who suffer from neurological problems.”
“Among the many letters, requests, reflections, outbursts that have been sent to me, I was deeply struck by that of a family who told me the story of their son Joseph – obviously, I chose a name that was the fruit of my imagination. But the story and the pain are authentic and are, unfortunately, the same as many families in our city. They are stories of desperation and discouragement that almost always hit the wall of a public reality like ours, which is not adequate – not to say non-existent – for the care and accompaniment of these children, forced with their families on long journeys of hope to obtain a diagnosis and then to activate specialist care and the ancillary activities that derive from it. Logistical costs, therapeutic outlays and loneliness: these are the burdens that public health should take care of. In many cases, families who experience these more or less dramatic situations have to deal with the expectation that they will die, on that life plan for their children, which is torn away by a degenerative disease, or by a disorder condition. neurological; and then they find themselves forced to reinvent themselves and build a new project, to follow a new path in life. More complex, more arduous, fraught with obstacles and bureaucracy. And often, too often, these parents and these families are left alone to their fate, who when things go well, find themselves without a psychological path that helps them face the toughest challenge of their lives, and when things go badly they are forced to give up. at work to follow their children and the ordeal that fate has reserved for them”.
“Think, in Reggio Calabria, there is no child psychiatry! There are no programs to follow and accompany these families in the darkness of their ‘night’. It is the state that loses because it is incapable of listening to their cry for help. This is a message clear of a public health system that loses the humanity that should inspire its every single choice, a public health system that abdicates its visceral mission of leaving no one behind. And today, we are certainly not here to change this state of affairs with the snap of our fingers things, the critical issues of which have deep roots, but to make the voice of a community heard loudly that does not remain indifferent to the needs of many families like Giuseppe’s. Let’s make sure that this City Council is not in vain!”.