Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis is planning to make health check-ups mandatory for all Greek citizens according to a report in daily newspaper Eleftheros Typos. Those who neglect getting checks for the four different types of cancer will face heavy penalties.

The plan being discussed by the ministry of health concerns mammogram, pap smears, the PSA test for prostate cancer and colonoscopy tests. Guidelines will be set concerning the regularity in which the tests would need to be carried out.

It is hoped that the new rules will increase early diagnosis to combat the alarming increase of cancer rates in Greece over the last 20 years due to smoking and poor nutrition.

Speaking to Eleftheros Typos, Kouroumblis said that cancer prevention should be a top priority among citizens. “As a nation we tend to neglect our health,” he said. “This is proven by the event that a program for anti-cancer tests was recently implemented for 60,000 beneficiaries, but only 7,000 people showed up.”

The goal is to make cancer tests obligatory so that fatality rates can be slashed. As for the penalties for those who don’t get tested, the minister is examining the possibility of making citizens pay 50% of the cancer medical bills that come to thousands of euros per month.