The Parliament’s Committee on Social Affairs has completed the elaboration of the bill of the Ministry of Health, entitled “Ratification of the Agreement between the Greek government and the World Health Organization (WHO), acting through its Regional Office for Europe, to establish office for the quality of care and patient safety at the WHO Office in Athens “.
ND, SYRIZA and PASOK – KINAL were in favor of the principle of ratification of the Agreement, while KKE and MERA25 stated that they were voting against and the Greek Solution was reserved for the Plenary Session.
The Agreement provides for the establishment and operation of an office in Athens of the World Health Organization, with a duration of five years and with the possibility of 5-year renewals and with an obligation of the Greek government to provide office space, maintenance costs and all kinds of equipment budget amounting to 5,641,000 euros .
The aim of establishing a WHO office in Athens is to upgrade health care at all stages and for all, to strengthen the health authorities in the region, the highest quality, most effective and equal access. It is part of the actions of the World Health Organization for better health in Europe.
“We absolutely believe in a public health system and we do not believe in ideologies. The Ministry of Health is working on a central plan for better public health benefits and in this sense we are working and collaborating with the WHO. The establishment of the office will help to correct the public “where there is a problem,” said Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga. “The Ministry of Health is here and the planning is here. Giving five million euros for better health care and better planning is not a cost, it is an investment.”
As Ms. Gaga pointed out, “there are three goals of the Ministry of Health with the creation of a WHO office in Athens, which will cover not only the Balkans but the whole of Europe. Respect for the patient, the ability to solve his problem but also to prevent any problem “.
On the same wavelength was the general rapporteur of ND, Maria – Alexandra Kefala, talking about a bill that will help and strengthen the public health system, providing better, equal and higher quality health services to all with emphasis on primary care and treatment .
Both the general rapporteur of SYRIZA, Sakis Papadopoulos, and the former Minister of Health and MP of the party, Andreas Xanthos, were in favor of the principle of the bill.
“The WHO office in Athens will contribute with their actions and with all the means to the best, most efficient and quality provision of health services. However, a health policy is needed that will realize that health is a public good and should not be treated as a commodity” , said Mr. Papadopoulos.
He added that “the establishment of a WHO office was a product of the political will of the SYRIZA government with the aim of implementing critical reforms to eliminate inequalities and access to medicines and health services for all patients.” “Our plan that we signed in 2018 was closer to the needs for equal care,” he said, adding: “The agreement is undoubtedly positive for the quality of healthcare and the safety of citizens. And it is certain that the World Wide “The Health Agency will carry out its duties, however, government policy is not in line with these objectives.”
For his part, Mr. Xanthos stressed that “the Agreement with the WHO was a strategic choice of the SYRIZA government because it mainly agreed with its value plan that says health for all.”
“WHO policies aim at equality and universal access. We say the Agreement is right in principle, provided it addresses the difficult reality of understaffing and disorganization of the public health system. The issue is how to take corrective action. “and support to the public health system, which is problematic”, pointed out Mr. Xanthos.
The special rapporteur of PASOK – KINAL, George Fraggidis, also supported the principle of ratification of the Agreement, noting that it is our country’s obligation to ratify the Agreement, in the framework of the joint action for better health in Europe.
“Its goal is to strengthen the administration of the regional authorities so that by 2030, we can achieve more effective and better health care and care for all patients at all levels and at all stages of life, with an emphasis on primary health,” he said. Mr. Fraggidis. At the same time, he stressed the need for further clarifications on who will have a decisive role, the WHO or the Greek government?
The special spokesman of the KKE, George Lambroulis, opposed the bill. “We are not opposed to any international cooperation on health issues, but with this agreement the issue remains for its orientation and that it will act with capitalist criteria and with the support of anti-popular health policies”, Mr. Lambroulis underlined. He added that “the agreement contains only wishes, while in practice the dominant policy is to cover public health costs and to treat them with the logic of costs – benefits”. “We are against the government’s anti-popular health policies through the WHO office and we are voting against it,” he concluded.
“The negatives outweigh the positives contained in the Agreement”, said the special speaker of the Hellenic Solution, Maria Athanassiou and added that there are questions regarding the expediency of establishing a WHO office and its ultimate goals for public health. “It unilaterally reflects the benefits of the WHO and not its obligations, we reserve the right for the Plenary,” said Ms. Athanassiou.
The special speaker of MERA25, Kleon Grigoriadis, opposed the Agreement, arguing, among other things, that it does not refer to primary care but only to the financial obligations of our country. “We say no to corporate offices. We do not need the commercialization of public health because that is the reason for establishing the WHO office in Athens, by promoting private-public partnership. What we need immediately is to strengthen the NSS with sufficient staff for “We are voting against this,” said Mr. Grigoriadis.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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