WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE ITALY - news journal UPDATE - (en) Italy, Umanita Nova #13-25 - Consultants and care spaces: the defense is collective! (ca, de, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

 D- Last March 2nd there was a protest action to denounce what is

happening at the Consultorio delle Sette Chiese in Rome in the
Garbatella neighborhood. How was this action characterized, carried out
in the days immediately preceding March 8th? ---- On March 2nd, three
hundred citizens together with us sent an email to the managers of the
ASL Roma 2 to denounce the serious disservices of the consultancy in
Largo delle Sette Chiese, in the Garbatella neighborhood of Rome. The
idea for the action was born in the assembly that is held monthly inside
the consultancy, made up of many people who live in the neighborhood and
who care about the situation of the health facility. In the complaint we
highlighted the shortcomings of the services starting from the
reception, to the possibility of easily booking a gynecological visit,
to the lack of a midwife and staff in general, of an ultrasound and
other equipment. The action was a success, not only because many people
decided to send the email, but above all because the ASL itself was
forced to respond immediately with various reassurances and to proceed
concretely: in fact, it recently reassigned a midwife five days a week
and from May 1st it will reintroduce gynecological visits every day and
not just two mornings a week. A weekly meeting space dedicated to new
fathers was also introduced.

Q-What were the key points of this mobilization that comes after a long
journey studded with initiatives?

This was the last of numerous initiatives that, as a collective in
defense of the Garbatella, San Paolo and Ostiense Consultancy Center, we
have organized since October 2023, when the dismantling of the clinic
began. Our collective was born then and is made up mostly of women and
mothers who met at the clinic. Together we have organized several
protests, assemblies, demonstrations, a symbolic occupation, parties,
markets, self-financing initiatives and we have obtained the possibility
of holding a public assembly every third Thursday of the month inside
the clinic itself. It was another way to gather the interest of the
territory for this essential social and health facility. A struggle that
we are carrying forward from the bottom in a self-managed and
non-partisan way. The situation of our clinic is unfortunately not
isolated, but is part of a general political framework of dismantling
public health and in two years we have involved many people from the
neighborhood, but also from other city struggles. We want to create a
network of struggles from the bottom, uniting forces and skills.

Q- What does a struggle for the clinic mean and what objectives do you
intend to achieve?

Defending the clinics means defending spaces for listening, care,
self-determination. It means guaranteeing free, free and close access to
people to prevention services, sexual health, psychological support, and
parenting support. Health centers are essential for universal and
inclusive public healthcare. Their closure or downsizing represents a
direct attack especially on the health of women, LGBTQIA+ people, and
young people who often find their first contact with the healthcare
system there. Every time a health center is emptied, loses staff,
reduces hours or services, a piece of democracy and collective care is lost.

At the same time, it is impossible not to see how this situation is part
of a broader collapse of public healthcare, hit by years of cuts,
privatizations, precariousness of staff and institutional abandonment.
Hospitals in difficulty, endless waiting lists, lack of general
practitioners, closures of departments and facilities: all this is
undermining the right to health, especially for those who cannot afford
to pay for private care. Defending health centers, therefore, is part of
a broader battle for accessible and quality public healthcare for everyone.

This is why we believe it is essential to socialize the paths of
struggle, to tell them, to share them, to build connections between
different territories and realities. Every person who participates in an
assembly, who signs a petition, who participates in a demonstration or
who simply informs themselves and spreads a piece of news contributes to
strengthening a movement of resistance and proposal. Struggles are never
individual: only together can we counter the plan to empty public health
and imagine new ways of taking care of ourselves and our communities.

Our attention to the situation of the Garbatella clinic does not fade
despite the successes, but we continue to monitor the situation as a
collective and as an assembly. What is still missing is the restoration
of the essential reception service, a clinic dedicated to menopause, an
ultrasound, the administration of the abortion pill and much more. And
in addition to the essential, we will ask for the improvements necessary
to meet the many needs that citizens express. Because health is a right,
not a privilege. And because every space of care that we defend is a
collective victory.

interview with the Collective in defense of the Consultorio di
Garbatella, S. Paolo, Ostiense

FOR CONTACTS: collettivaconsultorio7chiese@gmail.com

www.consultoriogarbatella.wordpress.com

https://umanitanova.org/consultori-e-spazi-di-cura-la-difesa-e-collettiva/
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