Health screening programmes in Greece have expanded in recent years but coverage still remains low compared to other EU countries as government delays in implementing projects already decided on a political level persist.

A recent study found that only around 40% of Greek adults have participated in any type of health screening in the past five years, well below the 58% EU average.

In the last two years, the participation rate for breast cancer screening stood at 36% (EU average 60%), and for colorectal cancer at 10% compared to the 48% EU average.

Participation for cervical cancer was at 40% in the last three years while at the EU level, it was 63%.

In his first speech in parliament after being re-elected last June, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis set national healthcare and public health policies as a key priority for his next four-year mandate.

Currently, the only screening programme that is being implemented is breast cancer-focused “Fofi Gennimata”, named after the late leader of the socialist Pasok party, who personally battled with the disease.

According to the health ministry, the government aims to increase screening rates to meet World Health Organisation targets by 2030, with plans to involve increased funding, infrastructure expansion, registries, and awareness campaigns.

Approximately €254 million was already allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Facility Fund (RRF), when it was first submitted in 2021, for the implementation of the national public health screening programme called “Spiros Doxiadis”.

Moreover, almost €2.7 million is foreseen for raising awareness.

However, in practice, little progress has been made since then, although the programme has been approved by parliament and all necessary ministerial decisions have been made.

The screening project was added to RFF in 2021 and in July 2022, the Greek parliament approved the public health action “Preventive Diagnostic Examinations for Cervical Cancer” as part of the screening programme.

It aimed at having 2.5 million women aged 21-65 screened for the HPV virus until 2030.

The screening programme for cardiovascular disease was the next to follow, among others, but there has been little concrete progress.

A sudden halt

Decisions for the implementation process and other technical specifications were circulated among all relevant stakeholders (ministries, national organisations, patient associations, healthcare and medical units, private sector), raising expectations for speedy implementation of the project.

In the meantime, healthcare and medical units made several significant investments, preparing to deliver their services on time.

But on 12 March 2023, the start of the project was unexpectedly suspended without further explanation by the National Healthcare Services Provider (EOPYY).

By the time of this article, EOPYY did not reply to a Euractiv request for comment on why the project was suspended.

Meanwhile, 131 scientific, medical, and patient associations signed a common petition addressing the issue to all lawmakers – including Greek deputies in the European Parliament – stressing the importance of complying with WHO guidelines and policies on the specific issue.

Asked about the case, a high-ranking source at the Ministry of Health told Euractiv that some of the priorities had to be re-assessed in the short term due to emergency incidents like the recent floods in central Greece.

The same source said the programme will be back on track by the end of the year.

The Mitsotakis government has reviewed RRF priorities already two times since the start, raising concerns of instability and upredictability among key market players.

(Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos/Zoran Radosavljevic | Euractiv.com)

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