A stunning Italian village in the Calabria region has sparked controversy around the country after banning residents from becoming seriously ill.

       The 1,300 residents of the mountainous vilage of Belcastro, Italy have reportedly been told to “avoid contracting any illness that may require emergency medical assistance”.

       However, whilst the move may seem like something out of fiction, it has been designed to draw attention to town’s poor healthcare system according to its mayor Antonio Torchia.

       He told Italian television that the decree was “obviously a humorous provocation” but that its reception had had a greater impact than any previous demands he’d made in recent years.

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       In front of renewed press attention, Mr Torchia explained that poor infrastructure in Calabria meant that emergency services struggled to access patients in need of treatment, a problem exacerbated by the number of Belcastro residents over the age of 65.

       What’s more, the nearest emergency medical department is 28 mile drive from the village which involves driving down a road with a speed limit of just 18mph, further compounding the problems.

       Mr Torchia added: “I have been waiting since last June for the health service to be activated in Belcastro, a right enshrined in the Constitution, but no one has given me an answer yet.

       "I hope that my initiative will provoke some conscience at the political level, as well as at the health level, and that the necessary actions are taken as soon as possible to resolve this unfortunate situation.”

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       Mr Torchia’s comments about the state of his beatific village come as pressure grows in incumbent Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to sort out Italy’s healthcare system whilst trying to balance the nation’s economy.

       Last year it was reported that the country’s latest budget had appeared to abandon spending plans for the healthcare system, causing nationwide outrage.

       Speaking to Politico, Naples based surgeon Pierino Di Silverio said: “The welfare state is in great crisis. It’s a pillar of our social model — and it’s being progressively de-financed.”

       A medic operating in northern Rome added that the health system was “so underfunded and badly equipped that people spend days in the emergency room”.