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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Monitoring Health Issues in Greece



Helliniko 16 July 2013

PRESS RELEASE
Monitoring Health Issues in Greece

The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helleniko has a well-rounded viewpoint on health problems in this country.  We are going to use that experience as a basis to establish an “Observatory of Health Issues” and document critical health issues in Greece.  The goal is to thoroughly record the problems of the public health system and monitor the relevant indicators in the population. 
While patient care will always be our first goal, some of our volunteers will systematically record not only the relevant news, but also isolated incidents and complaints.  And in documenting these incidents, we will be able to build a complete survey of the situation. 
We invite all concerned citizens to participate and, when they learn of something relevant, to inform us at the e-mail address mkie.paratiritirio@gmail.com.  Please indicate the source of the information (i.e. newspaper, magazine, patient data, etc.)  The information will be verified and posted to the Observatory.
A bi-monthly report will be prepared with all the data and statistics gathered.  We believe that this information is essential due to the exclusion of an increasing number of people from the health services.  The purpose of this initiative is to apply pressure to reverse policies that excludes impoverished citizens from health services.  Additionally there is the possibility of using this data in the future recourse to bodies both in Greece and abroad by citizens who are victims of the policies of the “memorandum.” 
Let’s send the message that the time of impunity is over and the restoration of constitutional legitimacy is at hand.  Every one responsible will be held to account for crimes committed.  The annihilation of our fellow citizens cannot be allowed.  The Council of Europe has undertaken to adopt a resolution regarding the health care of residents in countries where severe austerity measures are imposed. (See link: http://mki-ellinikou.blogspot.gr/2013/07/blog-post.html).
With this initiative, and with our small efforts, we will contribute, as we should, in the monitoring and the implementation of the measures proposed by the Council of Europe for the normalization of health care systems.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Representative of the Ministry of Health Revealed on the BBC


Helliniko 18 July 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Representative of the Ministry of Health Revealed on the BBC

We don’t easily send out any press release accusing anyone, no matter what his position, of falsehood.  However, when Mr. Panos Efstathiou, an administrator of the National Center of Health of the Ministry of Health, looks straight into the camera and lies to a BBC reporter, we feel that we have to say something.  The BBC reporter, Zeinab Badawi interviewed Mr. Efstathiou and asked him if allegations were valid that uninsured patients were required to pay large sums for life saving operations and were, therefore were essentially shut out of the public health service.
The dialogue was as follows:

Ms. Badawi:  On the sufficient evidence of a health crisis in Greece, I thought it was time to take my concerns to the Ministry of Health in Athens. (Speaking to Mr. Efstathiou) Is it the case that anybody in Greece who cannot afford to buy necessary drugs from the pharmacists or who needs an operation, if they cannot afford to pay, that the state will provide adequate care?

Mr. Efstathiou:  Mrs. Badawi, in Greece, the large majority of Greeks are insured in the public health system.  There are people who cannot afford their insurance scheme because they did not have the money, because they are in a difficult economic situation.  The government has decided that this will not affect their treatment in the national health care system.

Ms Badawi:  I’ve met one elderly man who needed a life saving operation.  He got it, but it cost him €6,000.  The hospital was pursuing him for payment.  But it was causing him and his family a great deal of stress.  Do you accept that that kind of cases is going on and that he is perhaps one of many?

Mr. Efstathiou:  There is no such case.  There is no one who uses the Public Health System who will have to pay any money.

Ms. Badawi:  The fact that there is an increasing number of community clinics that has grown from a hand-full last year to now nearly 40 would show that there is a greater need on the part of the people for such free voluntary services.

Mr. Efstathiou:  I would say that I see it differently. There is an effort for people to help one another.  That is evidence that a society, operating in austerity and difficulty.  These are positive signs for a civilization and society.  Not signs of disintegration.

You can see the video with the above dialogue here: 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCT8B31x7U4

A question for the Ministry of Health and specifically for the newly named Minster, Mr. Georgiadis, why does an official of the ministry lie, on camera and why does he try to distract people from the essence of the problem which is nothing more than the inhuman policies instituted by the Ministry allowing uninsured citizens to die without aid, since they do not have money to pay for the hospital or their medications?

Will the Minister of Health back up Mr. Efstathiou, or will he dismiss him.  Also, will they answer, at last, Mr. Minister what will happen with the hundreds of thousands of uninsured patients who have DO NOT HAVE FREE ACCESS to the Public Health System?  Are they just to be allowed to die?  For how long will this problem be ignored as his predecessors ignored it?  For how long will we put the reduction of expenses above the lives of our fellow citizens?


The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko will continue to denounce the unacceptable policies of austerity which result in harming Greek citizens.  Cancer patients, pregnant women, the young and the old are left to fend for themselves.  This must stop immediately.  We demand a clear answer about what you intend to do!

You can watch the whole BBC reportage here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rkKhwg0EPM&feature=youtu.be

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037b5kg

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Closure of the Paediatric Clinic at Asklipiou Hospital



Helliniko 4 July 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Closure of the Paediatric Clinic at Asklipiou Hospital

The Board of the Asklipiou Hospital at Voula had decided to close its Paediatric Clinic.  The Union of Employees and Doctors of Asklipiou organized a demonstration on the 4th of July, protesting this closure.
We claim that such a decision is unacceptable and should not be put into effect since it narrows the ability to serve tens of thousands of families in southern Attica.
The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko supports the struggle of the hospital’s employees in the public health system.  We were at their side on the 4th, supporting their struggle, not only to keep the Paediatric Clinic open, but also to open ALL the hospital to uninsured citizens.
We call upon all citizens to support the struggle taking place against the storm that has been sweeping through our public health system.

Please spread the word wherever you can – since none in the mass media as seen fit to do so

Resolution 1946 (2013) of the Council of Europe regarding “Equal Access to Health Care” and the example of The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko





Helliniko 1 July 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Resolution 1946 (2013) of the Council of Europe regarding “Equal Access to Health Care” and the example of The Metropolitan Community Clinic at Helliniko

We were especially gratified to learn that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted on 26 June 2013 a resolution recommending that all citizens have equal access to public health care. 
The resolution is a movement in the proper direction for all European citizens to have access the public health system of their respective countries.  And it was satisfying because MCCH – in its every day operations - highlights the actual problems and the grim reality resulting from the denial of this access to health services.  It is good to know that our existence has shaped and influenced public opinion in a positive way.
Indeed the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Social Affairs, Liliane Maury Pasquier, who visited MCCH in April of 2013 and understands the situation of uninsured citizens, cited the clinic as an example of solidarity with the people in her speech to the Commission of Europe.

Below, you will find the original text of the resolution and the report based on the text of the resolution

1) http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Doc/XrefViewPDF.asp?FileID=19776&Language=EN

2) http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/Doc/XrefViewPDF.asp?FileID=19991&Language=EN