"At the basis of the application request is the fact that Italian health personnel were the first in the Western world to face a very serious health emergency, in which they had to resort to possible remedies of war medicine fighting in the trenches to save lives and often losing theirs ".
Thus the president of the Gorbaciov Italia Foundation, Marzio Dallagiovanna, who since the middle of last year had collected adhesions to support the candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize 2021 of the Italian healthcare body. That slice of Italy that since the beginning of the pandemic has been (and still is) at the forefront of hospitals and all health facilities where Covid-19 is being fought.
The Nobel Peace Prize: a recognition of the ethical and humanitarian value of work
The official communication with which the Norwegian Committee has accepted this candidacy has come from Oslo. A special recognition given to figures and organizations that have particularly distinguished themselves for their work and for the great ethical and humanitarian value that this represents. It is the only prize awarded and delivered outside of Sweden, as the founder Alfred Nobel himself had wanted.
The proposal of the Gorbachev Italy Foundation, as foreseen by the candidacy protocol, was officially signed by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Lisa Clark. Co-chair of the International Peace Boureau, Clark was honored in 2017 for her efforts against nuclear disarmament. American, Lisa Clark lives in Italy, in Tuscany, and when the pandemic broke out she gave voluntary assistance. His motivation is significant: “I nominated the Italian health service for the Nobel Prize because its self-denial was moving. Something like a storybook. Nothing like this had been seen for decades. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, health personnel have no longer thought about themselves but what they could do to help others with their skills ".
Italy and its health personnel have been on the front line against Covid for over a year
Words that paint a dramatic and real picture on the work and sacrifices of our healthcare personnel. There are about 330 doctors who died due to the Coronavirus, and infected in the exercise of their profession. There are over 80 nurses and nurses. Very high numbers and unfortunately constantly updated. To these must be added the data relating to the auxiliary staff in service in hospitals and Rsa for which the precise figure is missing.
On these numbers and on the extraordinary sacrifices of doctors, nurses, operators in the various Italian health sectors, the Gorbachev Italy Foundation of Piacenza founded its request. With the aim of putting our country and its health personnel at the center. On the front line against the Covid-19 for over a year and that at the beginning of the pandemic it was faced with a war practically without weapons. There were no protective devices, therapies, beds in intensive care.
The candidacy proposed by the Gorbaciov Italia Foundation of Piacenza
Testimonial of the initiative promoted by the Gorbaciov Italia Foundation is Luigi Cavanna, head of onco-hematology at the Piacenza hospital. Cavanna is known for having personally committed himself to helping Covid patients at home, supporting the importance of territorial medicine, a story about which the foreign press has also written. The proponent, again in accordance with the protocol, which requires a high-profile figure, is Mauro Paladini, professor of private law at the University of Brescia. Approximately 350 thousand adhesions to the proposal, including institutions such as the Emilia Romagna Region, the Municipality and the Province of Piacenza. But also organizations and associations such as Banca di Piacenza, diocese of Piacenza and Bobbio, Piacenza and Vigevano Foundation, National Alpine Association, Confcommercio, Federfarma, Acli, Opera Pia Alberoni, Irccs Foundation National Cancer Institute of Milan and many others.
It remains to add that the same city of Piacenza it was among the hardest hit by the first wave of Covid. The Emilian city is located a few kilometers from Codogno where the first 21 cases of infection were confirmed on 21 February last year. Also for these reasons, on this occasion, Piacenza stands as a "World City of Peace Building".
