Athens City Hall developing free health network
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis on Tuesday heralded a joint initiative between City Hall, the country’s main healthcare provider (EOPYY), Athens University and a volunteer group called Allies for Health (Symmahoi Ygeias) aimed at providing free healthcare to thousands of Greeks on low incomes.
Kaminis on Tuesday signed three “memorandums of cooperation” aimed at boosting the distribution of free healthcare with the help of volunteers.
Among other things, the pacts foresee the reinforcement of municipal clinics with various doctors offering their services on a voluntary basis, the use of EOPYY’s laboratories to conduct medical examinations, and programs and lessons for schoolchildren about health issues.
In addition, vaccines are to be given to schoolchildren who have yet to be inoculated. Checks on 6,000 pupils around the country revealed that 800 had not been vaccinated due to the financial constraints of their parents or guardians.
In a parallel initiative, EOPYY is reportedly planning to open four “social pharmacies” in Piraeus, Nea Ionia and other parts of Attica. The outlets, which would operate as annexes to existing pharmacies, are to give out selected free medicines to unemployed and uninsured Greeks, Kathimerini understands. The first phase will cover 50,000 beneficiaries.
