The Italian army will guard medical staff at a hospital in Vibo Valentia, Calabria, following a series of attacks on doctors and nurses across southern Italy.
To prevent further assaults on healthcare workers, the army will monitor the hospital as part of its existing ‘Strade Sicure’ (Safe Streets) operation. This decision, reported by the *Gazzetta del Sud*, was made by Prefect Paolo Giovanni Grieco and will reshape the current surveillance services managed by the army in the area.
Meanwhile, the director of Foggia’s Policlinico Riuniti hospital has threatened to close its emergency room after three assaults on staff occurred in less than a week. One attack involved a near riot where a mob, led by relatives of a 23-year-old woman who died during surgery after a car accident, physically attacked hospital personnel.
These incidents in Foggia are part of a larger trend of violence against healthcare professionals in Italy. In response, the national doctors’ guild has called for the army to be deployed nationwide to protect hospital staff.
