The Ministry of Health’s “Prevent” program was presented on Friday by the leadership of the Ministry of Health at a special event at the Vassilis and Elizas Goulandris Foundation, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
According to the presentation made by the Deputy Minister of Health, Irini Agapidaki, who is responsible for prevention, four programs of free preventive examinations are gradually being rolled out.
First is the program for its prevention breast cancer. It is also what is already being implemented and through which more than 300,000 women have had free digital mammograms. The age limits are widening and now the beneficiaries of the program are women aged 45 to 74. The sms will start being sent to women on May 8. The aim of the Ministry of Health is to have benefited 1.3 million women by the end of 2025.
Immediately afterwards follows the prevention program for him cervical cancer which concerns 2.5 million women aged 21-65. The program includes a free Pap test, hpv dna test, colposcopy and biopsy if needed.
The start of the prevention program is set for June colon cancer, which is the third most common type of cancer worldwide. The first line will be special self tests which citizens will receive from pharmacies and depending on the results there will be a referral for a colonoscopy.
Donor exams for the cardiovascular diseases are expected in the second half of the year and beneficiaries will be all citizens from 30 to 70 years old. The program includes a free visit to the doctor as well as free blood tests and low profile lipids.
“We are building a Greece that will not aim to not die but to not get sick,” said Mrs. Agapidaki.
Mitsotakis: Prevention saves lives
“A dream I had today is coming true,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, adding that prevention has been the “poor relative” in our country until now. “There is no doubt that in a large category of diseases prevention saves lives. The longer we delay, the more difficult the treatment becomes,” noted the Prime Minister. He even gave an answer in relation to what is holding us back and we don’t go on time for preventive examinations. “The fear . I don’t want to know what we think, I prefer to live in ignorance,” he said.
Mr. Mitsotakis admitted that there is a lot of work to be done to convince citizens to participate in the prevention programs. For example, many women did not go for a free mammogram despite receiving an sms. “So this cycle is not yet closed.”
The Prime Minister emphasized that “what we do today affects how we will live in a few years.” He also made special mention of the financing of prevention programs from the Recovery Fund. “If it wasn’t for the Recovery Fund we would have had difficulty finding the financing tool.”
Concluding his speech Mr. Mitsotakis invited the citizens to participate in the preventive programs. “When you receive this sms about which of your diseases, do not neglect it. It’s a choice that can save lives,” he stressed.
In his speech, the Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiadis, called on the entire Greek population to take advantage of “this unique opportunity”, as he described the “Prevent” program. According to what Mr. Georgiadis mentioned, our country is a “champion” in obesity, has high rates of cardiovascular diseases and “we have a completely wrong way of life”.
“We have to catch up,” said the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou. Among other things, he mentioned that the big change in the channel of communication with citizens was the vaccination program for the corona virus, when citizens easily and quickly received appointments and vaccination status updates on their mobile phones.
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