To mark the anniversary of the first local health units set up in Greece, last December in Thessaloniki, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO organized a policy dialogue event on 7 December 2018 in Athens. The units – known as “TOMYs” (Topikes Monades Ygias in Greek) – are key elements of the newly designed primary health care system. They are staffed with multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, internists, paediatricians, nurses, health visitors and social workers to provide primary health care services at the community level. Currently 101 TOMYs are operating all over Greece and 30 new units are expected to be launched within the first quarter of 2019.
Greece at the forefront of people-centred health care
Greece embarked on the reform of its health system in 2015 and has achieved many significant milestones. “The primary health care reform and the establishment of the family physician, have a key role to play in achieving WHO’s priority ‘Health for All’,” highlighted Minister of Health, Dr Andreas Xanthos in his opening speech. Demonstrating the commitment of the country to its health reform, Mr Alexis Charitsis, Minister of Interior, noted that “the government has also ensured fiscal sustainability for the further roll-out of the reform and further recruitment in social care as a necessary component towards integrated care”.
Commenting on the implementation of the reform and the focus on primary health care, Dr Hans Kluge, Director of the Division of Health Systems and Public Health of WHO/Europe, said: “What you are doing, is showing the world what the concept of people-centred health care means in reality”.
Policy dialogues bringing all actors together
The aim of the event was to bring together all actors involved at central, regional and community levels. Policy-makers, TOMY workers, health-care providers, patient and civil society representatives shared their experiences and discussed openly achievements and challenges. Together they explored ways to further improve services and make them more people-centred, and to establish a process that will strengthen inclusion and accountability.
Minister Xanthos acknowledged the value of policy dialogues and expressed the intention of central health authorities to initiate a series of similar events in all regions of the country.
Background
The policy dialogue event was conducted under the Strengthening Capacity for Universal Coverage, Phase 2 (SCUC2) action.
The SCUC2 action is carried out with funding from the European Union through a grant agreement between the European Commission and WHO/Europe. Its general objective is to contribute to improving health and health equity in Greece, especially among the most vulnerable in the crisis-stricken population, by helping Greek authorities move towards universal health coverage and strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and resilience of their health system.