Greek medics warn against new cuts

Medical workers in Greece have warned that additional cuts to the country’s health sector could cause permanent damage to the already struggling public healthcare.

According to AFP, the warning comes as the Greek government is in the process of downsizing eight hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki and turning them into health centers with over 1,600 staff members being reassigned elsewhere.
Kyriakos Souliotis, an assistant professor of health policy at the University of the Peloponnese, expressed concern that the ongoing cuts could destabilize the whole health system while the country is struggling with high unemployment and rising poverty. He also said that under pressure from its creditors, Greece has been forced to apply in just two years measures that other European countries implemented over a decade.
This comes as Greek hospital workers are to join other public workers on September 18 in a two-day strike in protest at the cuts.