PHM-Exch> [PHM News] WE ARE "ILLEGAL" - A visit to the Solidarity Clinic in Greece - Blog post from International People's Health University - Greece

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: PHM Global Secretariat <globalsecretariat at phmovement.org>
>From the IPHU - BLOG <http://www.phmovement.org/en/IPHU-Thessaloniki> in
Greece!

In Greece, health insurance is linked to employment and 30% of the Greek
population is unemployed. Today we visited the Solidarity Clinic, set up in
response to the increasing number unable to access institutional healthcare
services.

The clinic is in the 'rough' part of town. It is on the first floor of an
apartment building that has been loaned by a labour organisation. As we
walk up the stairs we see patients waiting on plastic chairs and are met by
the smell of the disinfectant. The volunteer receptionist (all the staff
here are volunteers), shows us to the appointment book which is full, and
to the neatly filed patient notes. In the past 2 years the clinic has
treated over 15,000 patients.

The clinic is open 6 days a week and runs a morning and afternoon session.
There are daily general practice appointments, dental and maternity
services. Each day a different medical specialty is also offered, including
psychiatry, neurology, paediatrics and oncology.

We are shown through to the pharmacy where the room is walled with shelves
of medications; "All the medications are given to us as donations... often
it is when people have medications left over that they bring them in... a
lady with cancer died recently and her family has brought in the remainder
of her chemotherapy".

This is not ideal. However, the worsening economic and political situation
in Greece means that clinics like this are lifelines for many of the Greek
population.

The health system has been subject to structural reform responding to
memoranda from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. 20
billion euros must be saved. There have been significant hospital closures
and reductions in bed numbers. Gaining access to health services has a
cost- once 3 euros and rarely enforced, now rising to 25 euros. Costs
spiral with treatment. Delivering a baby SVD costs 900 euros; 1500 by
caesarean section. We heard anecdotes of women who aren't allowed to take
their babies home until bills are settled.

The clinic is political in its origins and its continued message of
solidarity, antifascism and anti-austerity is clear. In January 2011, 300
immigrants in Greece went on hunger strike for a total of 48 days in
protest of the possibility of deportation. The clinic was set up to provide
medical care for these migrants unable to access healthcare without
official papers. The demographic of the patients at the Solidarity Clinic
has shifted since 2011, with Greeks making up 75% of those now attending.

The clinic is not an NGO and not a charity. The money required to run it,
mostly to pay for vaccines and new equipment, is raised through personal
donations and fundraising events such as concerts and exhibitions. The
government and police have targeted similar clinics recently. One in
Athens, was raided and accused of smuggling illegal drugs. The Solidarity
Clinic has issued a press release in response to the thought that "all
centers that produce anomy must close”; it is an accurate summary of the
feelings of those we met today.














*We are “illegal” for the last 2 years for having supported more than
10.000 uninsured patients by providing health services and medications
without asking from anyone their permission. We are “illegal” because we do
so without money. We are “illegal” because we oblige only to the code of
medical ethics. We are “illegal” because we are accountable only to our
consciousness, our patients and the society. We are “illegal” because we
fight against to humiliation and death. We are “illegal” because we believe
that Health is a major social good and not a commodity. Those last actions,
reminding of totalitarian regimes, clearly demonstrate that the red line is
crossed. They want to eliminate hope. They want to destroy everything that
keeps us united. They hate life. They will face us all, volunteers,
patients, civilians, in the opposite side. We will defend life and
dignity.  We will fight against death. SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON *

Read the whole press release
here:http://www.kiathess.gr/index.php/8-2012-12-24-13-28-34/2012-12-24-13-27-56/70-for-the-police-visit-at-metropolitan-community-clinic-at-elliniko-and-medecins-du-monde

--
Global Secretariat
People's Health Movement (PHM)
Email: globalsecretariat at phmovement.org
Web: www.phmovement.org
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