International Meeting of ‘Doctors Without Borders’ (MSF) in Athens

The health risks that European citizens face during the economic crisis were revealed during a press conference in Athens on Friday by the presidents of ‘Doctors Without Borders’ (MSF) from four European countries: Greece, Spain, France and Germany. The press conference was organized in the framework of an international meeting taking place on Friday and Saturday in Athens under the auspices of the Greek EU Presidency, with the presidents, directors and managers of MSF from 14 countries (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, USA, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and Argentina) taking part. MSF reported a significant increase in the number of Greek citizens lacking state health insurance, rising to 28 pct of the country’s population at the end of 2013. In Spain, it was estimated that 16 pct of the population had no access to medicines. In France, approximately 200,000 people have no right to medical care due to the complexity of the health system, and even in prosperous Germany, the health of uninsured pregnant women and children is at risk because their access to the health system is limited. The representatives of MSF called for open health systems for everyone, adding that “health is not a commodity” and expressed their solidarity with the citizens of Greece, where the health system is facing the most serious problems due to the economic crisis. As stated by the head of the Greek branch of MSF Liana Mailli: “Greece is in a very extreme situation due to cuts in health. In our country there is no longer such thing as a health system.” Mailli also stressed that about three million Greek citizens are uninsured and added as an example that an uninsured pregnant woman needs 650 euros for a normal birth and 1,200 euros for a caesarean, while a basic vaccination scheme for a child costs 1,400 euros. (source: ana-mpa)

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