“We’re trying to fill in all the gaps. We are making a new plan,” said the Minister of Health
“The part of drug shortages, which is a matter of exports, will be eliminated. The situation will normalize” said the Minister of Health Thanos Pleuris, who also referred to the issue of the family doctor, waiting lists in surgeries and transplants.
“We want more doctors in the personal physician system,” said the health minister, who argued that the public had embraced the institution of the health ministry.
“We have always had images of rajas in the country. After the pandemic, we are making efforts to change this image for the better, as far as possible,” said the minister, who also referred to the Children’s Agia Sophia, which is facing many problems.
We try to cover all the gaps
Speaking about the serious shortage of doctors in pediatric hospitals that create long waiting lists in operating rooms, he argued that anesthesiologists are slowly taking their place in hospitals, while some operating rooms will be transferred to other clinics.
“Pediatric surgeries are more sensitive because more staff may be needed, but there are also surgeries that are not as intense and we can have a better result and at the same time of course the positions are also filled” argued Mr. Pleuris.
“We’re trying to fill in all the gaps. We are making a new plan” said the minister stressing that there will be additional reinforcement with private doctors to cover gaps or cases will be transferred to private clinics, without the citizen paying. This is the plan to limit the list” added the minister.
“The list has always existed, it’s just that now we have the deterioration because we didn’t have the surgeries due to the pandemic”, added Mr. Pleuris.
Regarding staff shortages in Children’s hospitals, the minister claimed that the positions of anesthesiologists have been filled.
“From the list of 3,000 surgeries in Agia Sophia, a liquidation took place and 2,000 surgeries remained. The remaining 1,000 were made elsewhere. This is a failure of the system” admitted the health minister.
Speaking about the reform of public health, with the implementation of the personal doctor, Mr. Pleuris focused on the fact that since the start of the implementation of the measure, 1,000,000 free appointments have been made.
We need more private doctors
“In its full implementation, there would be a decongestion of the hospitals,” the health minister asserted. Speaking about the incentives that will be given for more private doctors to join the program, Mr. Pleuris clarified that at the moment we have 3,400 doctors in the system, 4,700,000 registered citizens while we have approximately 1,100 private doctors in the system.
“We want more private doctors, who are paid up to 65,000 euros a year for this service. Another 1000 doctors are needed to have a fully normalized system,” he stressed.
As revealed by Mr. Pleuris, 70% of the population aged over 60 have registered and only 40% in the 17-49 age group. “Slowly the system is being normalized, so that the level of appointments is much more rationalized” he said and added that “citizens embraced the institution” as they signed up on the relevant platform.
The importance of prevention in health
Mr. Pleuris referred to the programs of preventive examinations that are increasingly enriched after the addition of cardiac examinations.
“In the “Fofi Gennimata program” we have currently reached 60,000 mammograms and we have close to 4,000 women who were diagnosed at an early stage”, he pointed out.
Regarding the lack of medicines, even pediatric ones, Mr. Pleuris stated that the issue is caused because the medicines in Greece are cheaper and a selection of pharmacies is made in consultation with pharmacies to send them abroad.
“At the moment, levels of the EOF are conducting inspections in pharmaceutical warehouses. They have been asked to declare stocks and are doing checks. 9 multinational pharmaceutical companies are being checked, if they have violated this law, so at the level of control and pressure it will normalize the situation”, emphasized the Minister of Health. And as he himself recognized, “the citizen, and especially a parent, cannot suffer to find medicines, so we have made this a top priority”.
Mr. Pleuris also referred to the issue of transplants, saying that the ministry has taken the framework that exists in Spain, which is the first country in transplants, and is bringing it to Greece, saying that the framework is being created so that all these operations are compensated.
“Right now a kidney patient, who will be transplanted, will live 10 years longer and there will be savings for the state of around 600,000 euros from the money given for hemodialysis. We are improving the quality of a person and it is very important to reach a level like the other European countries”.
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