Greece is upgrading hospital facilities, strengthening the National Health System (ESY) workforce and restarting national preventive screening programmes, Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistokleous said in an interview with SKAI 100.3 radio.
Themistokleous said the National Health System now employs more staff than at any previous point, although hospitals continue to face shortages, particularly among nurses.
He also highlighted improvements in specialist medical training, saying Greece had halted the outflow of young doctors seeking training abroad and filled all available specialist training positions.
“In 2019, 7,000 of the 10,000 available specialist training positions were filled. Today, all 10,000 are occupied,” he said.
Preventive screening programmes resume
The deputy minister said the government had restarted the Fofi Gennimata programme for breast cancer prevention, while authorities expect to relaunch the cardiovascular disease screening programme in the coming period.
He explained that the brief interruption occurred because the government was transferring the programmes’ funding to national resources. The programmes will now become part of the National Health System’s routine operations.
Themistokleous stressed the importance of early breast cancer detection, noting that one in eight women will develop the disease during her lifetime. He said more than 95% of cases could be completely cured when doctors detect the cancer at an early stage.
“No woman should go without a preventive mammogram,” he said, urging women who receive an SMS invitation to undergo screening even if they have no symptoms.
He added that most examinations would find no abnormalities, while early detection of suspicious findings would allow doctors to treat the disease promptly.
New equipment and hospital improvements
Themistokleous also highlighted the installation of a new biplane angiography system at the University Hospital of Larissa, funded through a donation from HELLENiQ ENERGY, as well as the renovation of the Elassona Health Centre.
He described the angiography system as highly advanced and said the Larissa hospital now employs around 250 more people than it did seven years ago. The hospital has filled almost all positions across its departments and established new units, he added.
The deputy minister also discussed the expansion of thrombectomy services for stroke patients. He said only a small number of public and private hospitals in Greece offered the treatment five years ago, but hospitals now continue to develop new departments equipped with advanced medical technology.
The government aims to enable all regional university hospitals, as well as major hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki, to provide thrombectomy services. The goal is to give patients faster access to specialised treatment closer to home, he said.
Elassona Health Centre undergoes full renovation
Themistokleous said the renovation of the Elassona Health Centre covered the entire building, its electromechanical systems and its medical equipment.
The centre employs 73 people and provides a wide range of healthcare services, he added.
(Source: AMNA)
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