Calabria faces shortage of over 130 family doctors

Regional councilor Ernesto Alecci warned that more than 130 family‑doctor posts are vacant across Calabria, leaving whole territories without primary‑care physicians. The missing positions total 48 in Cosenza, 25 in Reggio Calabria, 23 in Catanzaro‑Vibo Valentia, and 15 in Crotone.

The deficit forces residents to travel to distant hospitals and overcrowds emergency departments. In the town of Cutro, only three permanent doctors serve nearly 10,000 people, and entire villages such as Steccato and San Leonardo are left without any medical assistance, a situation described as a social emergency. Alecci criticised the regional government’s inability to attract medical professionals and highlighted the lack of on‑call medical guards, especially in tourist zones.

The crisis reflects broader governance and organisational problems within Calabria’s health system, prompting calls for urgent action to fill the vacancies and restore basic health services.