Austerity cuts taking toll on Greeks’ health care: Minister

Greece’s health minister says government austerity measures in the country have resulted in a certain portion of the public losing their health insurance.

Adonis Georgiadis said on Wednesday that some 1.9 million to 2.4 million Greeks, equal to roughly a fifth of the country’s 10.8-million-strong population, have lost their public health insurance due to the austerity policies.

Charities, however, estimate the number of those affected to be about 3 million, amounting to almost one-third rather than one-fifth of Greece’s population.

The Greek health minister said that the uninsured will be given access to free primary care at special clinics, but specialized care relies on donations from private charities and pharmaceutical companies.

Earlier this week, a study showed that over 550 men have committed suicide in Greece “solely because of fiscal austerity” over a period of 12 months.

The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, found that every 1-percent increase in government spending cuts in Greece resulted in a 0.43-percent surge in suicides among men between 2009 and 2010.

The country’s public health care has been ravaged by a harsh financial crisis. International bailout money has had little success in turning things around.

Athens has been required by its international lenders – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – to undertake certain austerity measures in exchange for bailout loans totaling 240 billion euros.

Greece has been at the epicenter of a debt crisis in the eurozone and has so far experienced seven years of recession.

According to reports, more than a quarter of Greek workers are currently unemployed, banks are in a shaky position, and pensions and salaries have been slashed by about 40 percent during the crisis.