On Monday 25 February
2013, The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko was visited by a group of
doctors and activists from
Germany. Their aim was to get information and report
back to
Germany
their impressions concerning the consequences of the mandated austerity
measures, especially as far as the health sector is concerned, and to put some
pressure on the German leaders.
The group consisted of
six doctors of different specialists coming from three cities (
Munich,
Berlin and
Frankfurt). All were members of the Association of
Democratic Doctors of Germany
(Verein Demokratischer Ärztinnen
und Ärzte) and of Medico
International, an organization that deals mainly with countries of the third
world.
The visit was made in
response to the alarming situation in the health sector in Greece, the influence of Berlin,
through its Task Force in cuts in the health sector in Greece and the
parallel creation of initiatives of support from the people, such as community
clinics. They also wanted to pass on
their experience to their Greek colleagues.
Nadia Rakovits, the
director of the Association of Democratic Doctors in Germany, emphasized that
the doctors and the people have already been confronted with the impact of the
policy to cut health expenses over the last ten years with hospital mergers and
the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) program which concerns the classification of
hospital visits with the goal to reducing costs of treatment and care.
On March 12, 2013 the doctors will deliver a
presentation to the
University of
Frankfurt on their experiences in
Greece.
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