Health Minister Andreas Xanthos highlighted there is an urgent need Greece to be financed by European Union to organize a comprehensive health plan for refugees.

Speaking at the conference of the World Health Organization held in Rome which is focused on the refugee crisis, he noted that 80% of the refugees and migrants fleeing war zones arrive in Europe through Greece and 70% of them come from Syria. Among Syrian refugees, 16% are women and 25% are children.

“Obviously there’s no issue of a ‘health bomb’ or of transmitted infectious diseases, but there’s a need for preliminary examinations and emergency health care for people afflicted with illnesses of the general population; for early registration and separation of those who need special medical care and a rapid referral via ambulance to public healthcare units,” he said.

He also stressed that these funds are needed immediately so as to increase medical staff and buy drugs, vaccines, and essential first aid material of all public health centers on the islands of the Aegean, as well as to provide 24-hour staff for open accommodation centers in Attica.