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Description
The NHS is under-financed after the economic crisis, while citizens are not able to cover the cost of care privately, making access to health services difficult for the entire population and especially for the most vulnerable groups, that do not have the financial capacity to pay for medicines and to do relatively quick tests at a private diagnostic centres, being obliged to address only specific public hospitals; in this case the delay for a simple test may range from 3 to 6 months, with severe consequences for the patient’s health.The aim of the project is to advocate for the access of all citizens, particularly the most vulnerable (i.e. elderly, refugee, unemployed, chronic and psychiatric patients) to quality free health services and appropriate medication, to positively influence the shaping of health and drug access policies by tabling rational proposals and effectively raising the rights of vulnerable groups to health by giving them a step-up and engaging them in investigative journalism.
Project actions include:
1) Collection of patient testimonies on the difficulty of accessing medical and diagnostic tests and conducting research
2) Study of the legal framework and qualitative research for donations of drugs - social pharmacies in Greece and abroad
3) Proposal to rationalize national policy based on evidence processing, study, research
4) Research journalism - Supervision of the current health-medicine system
5) Advocacy with an informative campaign, for the benefit of vulnerable citizens, strengthening their voice - disseminating to the media
MdM Greece, as the most prominent partner organization and project coordinator, will provide project management and administrative support and will participate in Actions 1, 3, 4 and 5 mentioned above. GIVMED will participate in Actions 2, 3, 4 and 5 and TPP in Actions 2, 4 and 5.
Summary of project results
The results of the field research and testimonies collected in the context of the mapping study on the difficulty in accessing health/medicine for vulnerable social groups (VSGs) clearly demonstrated the challenges and exclusions they face. More specifically, the key pillars set (in line with international health service access survey methodology) were Approachability, Acceptability, Availability, Affordability, Appropriateness and Adequacy, with participants generally indicating a combination of problems, gaps and challenges: the distance to (state) health structures combined with the inadequacy of public transport, delays in telephone appointments (through the state system), the complexity of administrative procedures of hospitals and state social welfare services combined with poverty and unemployment, the deterioration of public health services not only as a result of the recent socio-economic crisis but also as a consequence of a long-standing cliental system and a long-term devaluation of the public sector, were . Issues of health inequalities have become even more apparent with the coronavirus pandemic posing a greater risk to women, children, migrants, the elderly, people living in poverty, people with pre-existing medical conditions and people who have been forcibly displaced.
The project involved an advocacy campaign entitled, "Every Donation A Story" highlighted the value of drug donation while the gaps and failures of the pharmaceutical industry to respond to global demand in the short term were also discussed at the advocacy level with MPs, MEPs and members of the Greek Parliament.
Finally, policy proposals were developed and a comparative literature review of the European Health and Pharmaceutical Systems in the light of waiting times and appointment setting methods, Efficacy-Efficiency-Measurement Tools and drug measurement and pricing indicators in the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands in comparison to Greece was carried out.