Forget doctors, forget hospitals, forget wonder drugs and say goodbye to those interminable debates about where the money is coming from to fund it all.

The mayor of a small Italian village has come up with a fix — he has issued a decree banning its 1200 inhabitants from “contracting any illness that may require emergency medical assistance”.

Issued by Antonio Torchia, the decree was triggered by the struggles of the Belcastro community to access healthcare. Like many towns across Australia, it is also dealing with the realities of a long-running medical workforce shortage which the nation’s pollies have failed to address.

Half its residents are aged over 65, but the village doctor is unable to open after hours and during weekends and the nearest ED is 40km away.