Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ impromptu visit to the health ministry on Thursday was followed by a statement outside the ministry, where he said the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government is working hard to reverse the bad climate in the health sector.
Tsipras referred to a restructuring plan for the Greek public health system, and what he called the “dismantling” of reforms that have been made by previous austerity governments.
“Health is a right and a good which should be accessible to all citizens regardless as to whether or not they have insurance,” he said, estimating that uninsured people number 2.5 million.
Tsipras said that Greece is amongst the countries with the lowest portion of health spending to GDP (in western Europe) with a number of needs not being met. He announced that 4,500 medical staff will be hired, including doctors, nurses and other para-medical staff, of which 600 will go to the Aegean region, Thrace, western Macedonia and Thesprotia prefecture.
The only “detail” now is to find the extra cash for the hirings.