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Valentino Del Fabbro: A Pioneer in the Fight Against Silicosis
- 2024/09/02
- 再生時間： 6 分
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あらすじ・解説
On August 11, forty years ago, Dr. Valentino Del Fabbro passed away suddenly. He was a symbolic figure among Belluno’s doctors, deeply committed to tackling silicosis, a disease that claimed the lives of thousands of Belluno miners. He was the father of Law 780, passed on December 27, 1975, which extended compensation for cases of pulmonary silicosis associated with other cardiovascular conditions. This law somehow brought a degree of justice and ended the bureaucratic and welfare nightmare for many poor emigrants, and not only them, who had contracted the terrible disease in mines and tunnels worldwide. The sudden passing of Dr. Del Fabbro caused great emotion and sorrow, not only because of his work in healthcare but also due to his dedication to supporting volunteer work and those less fortunate. Del Fabbro was born in Conegliano on June 25, 1908, and graduated in Medicine from the University of Padua in 1932. He arrived in Belluno in 1934, first working in the general medicine department and then in what was known as the sanatorium in San Gervasio, which housed tuberculosis and silicotuberculosis patients. Del Fabbro specialized in public health and respiratory diseases, earning his specialization in 1937. During the second World War, he served as a medical officer on the Greek front, where he was awarded the War Cross for Military Valor. After the war, Del Fabbro’s dedication led to significant changes in Belluno’s healthcare. Initially serving as an assistant, and finally, in 1950, as the head physician, he turned the sanatorium into the Pneumology Department as silicosis became less of an emergency. From 1952 to 1954, while serving as the head of the sanatorium, he initiated an interesting but little-known initiative with teacher Emilio Millo, organizing courses for patients to obtain primary and secondary school diplomas. His close connection with the Belluno community led him to delve deeply into the serious problem of silicosis, becoming one of its leading experts. That’s why he was involved in drafting Law 780 on silicosis and as besto sis. Del Fabbro also briefly served as a city councilor in Belluno, elected in 1956 on the Socialist Party, holding office until November 1960 when Adriano Barcelloni Corte and Annibale Dal Mas were mayors. “But not enjoying the balancing act of political life,” noted L’Amico del Popolo at his death, “he preferred to dedicate himself to social life, committing deeply to volunteer work.” Del Fabbro authored numerous reports and publications (33 in total). He founded the Bulletin of the Medical Association of Belluno Province, serving as its president from 1973. He later became president of the Belluno Blood Donors Association (from 1976) and was among the founders of the Comitato di Intesa tra le Associazioni Volontaristiche della Provincia in 1976, also serving as its first president. Volunteering became perhaps Del Fabbro’s main occupation. He demonstrated his generosity through numerous donations, including to the promotional committee for the CT scanner and to the Wamba hospital in Kenya. In the year of his death, the city of Belluno awarded him the San Martino Prize, which the municipal administration presented to a deserving citizen. The ceremony, chaired by Mayor Toscano (who also recently passed away), took place in the city auditorium. The prize was awarded posthumously to Dr. Valentino Del Fabbro “for his intense humanitarian work throughout his life.” He was also honored as an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, a distinction he had “modestly” kept “perhaps too hidden.” The Belluno ACLI Patronage, for which he was a consultant, remembered him as the doctor who had long been involved in voluntary legal representation in occupational and forensic medicine. As a medical consultant specializing in social advocacy, especially for ACLI Patronage but also for INCA CGIL, he assisted tens of thousands of workers, particularly migrants, affected by silicosis. He was especially distinguished “in the delicate and often difficult phases of administrative and legal disputes, engaging with the Medical Consultancy of the National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidents and Occupational Diseases.” A study dedicated to the tragedy of silicosis and the figure of Del Fabbro will culminate next year in a book that the Bellunesi nel Mondo association intends to publish to mark the 50th anniversary of Law 780, which was strongly supported in Parliament by MP Giovanni Bortot.
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