They were there to help, but they were targeted by spits. It happened, according to what was reported by the association “Nessuno tocchi Ippocrate”, on Sunday morning inside the camper that the ASL Napoli 1 Centro had positioned in Piazza del Carmine, in the Mercato neighborhood, to offer assistance to the homeless.
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“Suddenly,” the association wrote on its Facebook page, “a Ukrainian citizen entered the camper asking for a large number of Tylenol tablets, claiming to be positive for Covid. Faced with the medical staff’s refusal, the man began to spit at them, in an attempt to infect them.”
Manuel Ruggiero, 118 doctor currently working at the ASL Napoli 2 and founder of “Nobody touches Hippocrates”, he commented: “We have reached really low levels. Spitting represents one of the worst forms of contempt towards those who are there to offer free help”.
It's already the third case in 2025
According to data collected by the association, Sunday morning's episode is already the third case of physical or verbal aggression against doctors or nurses registered in the territory of ASL Napoli 1 since the beginning of 2025. This ASL covers the entire city of Naples and the island of Capri. The year has therefore started in the worst possible way, with an average of one aggression every two days.
In 2024, the year that ended just a week ago, “Nessuno tocchi Ippocrate” documented 52 episodes of violence in the Campania capital, mainly in hospital emergency rooms or during interventions by 118 ambulances. This is 10 fewer cases than in 2023. However, the negative record dates back to 2019, when 105 assaults were reported, an average of almost one every three days.
Article published on 7 January 2025 - 08:03
It is really sad that there are people who do not understand the importance of the work of doctors and nurses. Violence is never the answer, we should all support those who help us in difficult situations. Let's hope these episodes decrease.