The Greek government was forced to open again the country’s only Children Cardiac Surgery Clinic following an unprecedented outcry on social media. For several days, for over a week, hundreds of Greek internet users have being posting again and again over the closure of the clinic, the only one performing heart surgeries to children and moreover in a public hospital, no matter whether the little patients were insured or not.
After the public outcry that intensified in the last couple of days, Health Minister, Vassilis Kikilias, announced on Monday that the clinic will immediately open again.
Είχα δεσμευτεί δημόσια & είχα διαβεβαιώσει γονείς και ιατρικό προσωπικό, ότι η Καρδιοχειρουργική Εντατική Μονάδα τριών κλινών του #Παιδων_ΑγιαΣοφια θα επανερχόταν το συντομότερο στην σταθερή της κατάσταση. Και αυτό έγινε. https://t.co/1LioClMSx7
— Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias) June 15, 2020
Officially – unofficially, the Health Ministry was claiming that the clinic was closed for children heart surgeries because it was turned into a COVID-19 clinic for children.
The Health Ministry was denying that the clinic was shut down and was advising desperate parents of children with urging cardio problems to the cardio private hospital in Athens. However, the Onaseio Hospital is lacking facilities for children, parents complained on social media.
The issue arose when a 3-year-old girl from Crete in need of immediate surgery needed the intervention of the Health Minister.
For weeks, strong reactions against the closure of the clinic came from the Association of Parents and Guardians of children with heart problems, the Panhellenic Association of Patients with Congenital Heart Diseases, but also the Hellenic Society of Pediatric Cardiology.
Even today, Monday, Kikilias claimed the closure was “fake news.”
After weeks of reactions from competent bodies and the Association of Parents and Guardians and despite the fact that the Ministry of Health persistently spoke of “fake news”, the Minister, Vassilis Kikilias, announced the immediate re-creation of the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Center of Athens General Hospital Hagia Sophia “.
IT is not the first time the infant cardio surgery clinic in Agia Sofia was closed for three months also in 2019, for reconstruction works, however, in another department of the children’s hospital.
Some 60 children with cardiology issues were reportedly again advised to the emergency of Onaseio hospital.
The outcry against the closure became even bigger on Sunday, when the Prime Minister, the Tourism Minister and the Health Minister visited the hospital on the island on Santorini and assured foreign tourists that Greece was a safe country.
We have invested in our regional healthcare system, we have testing capacity on most islands and the basic social distancing rules continue to apply. We want our visitors to feel safe and enjoy their experience of the Greek summer. Interview with @FareedZakaria on CNN. pic.twitter.com/hd4n0CZMTr
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) June 14, 2020
Υποδεχτήκαμε τον @PrimeministerGR στο ΓΝ Θήρας.
Έχουμε μπροστά μας ένα καλοκαίρι με εντατική δουλειά για να υποδεχθούμε επισκέπτες, χωρίς να κάνουμε καμία έκπτωση στην ασφάλεια του πληθυσμού & στην ασφάλεια των εργαζομένων στο Εθνικό Σύστημα Υγείας. #μενουμεασφαλεις #Σαντορίνη pic.twitter.com/5khY4ZCGP3— Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias) June 13, 2020
Health care only for tourists? Sorry, wrong approach.
