Getting sick is forbidden in Barbagia. Once again, the citizens of Esterzili, Sadali and Seulo find themselves without a medical guard . An essential service, which often becomes a sporadic eventuality, entrusted to fate rather than to the health organization.
The latest closure arrived as a message on residents' smartphones: "Notice, the medical emergency service based in Sadali will be closed today, March 11. In case of emergency, you must call 118." A communication sent by municipal administrators, helpless in the face of difficulties and inconveniences, which now smacks of mockery, because the problem is not an isolated case, but yet another demonstration of a health system that is crumbling, leaving entire territories uncovered and citizens without answers.
In fact, it is not the first time and, unfortunately, it probably will not be the last. In Barbagia, as in other inland areas of Sardinia, the medical emergency has become an intermittent service. You only get sick if the right day happens, otherwise you hope for good luck or face kilometers of road to reach an available health facility.
The problem is well known: the shortage of doctors is chronic and affects the entire region. But while cities can still count on hospitals and emergency rooms, despite the thousand difficulties that afflict them, in small towns the situation is dramatic. Here the medical emergency service is not a luxury, a true emergency care facility. And when it fails, the consequences can be serious.
Sardinia seems increasingly divided in two: while in the big cities there is discussion about strengthening the structures, in towns like Esterzili, Sadali and Seulo there is a fight for something that should be guaranteed by right: the possibility of getting treatment . And today it is no longer just a question of inefficiency or lack of funds, but of a short-sighted vision that condemns the internal areas to abandonment.
The citizens of Barbagia di Seulo have already lost count of the times they have had to make their voices heard, simply asking for what they are entitled to by right . And yet, the answers never arrive. And in the meantime, we continue to hope. To not need a doctor on the wrong day. To grit our teeth and rely on luck. Too bad that health is not a gamble. And guaranteeing an efficient health service cannot be a utopia.
