Speaking at the European Parliament on March 5, Georgios Chatzimarkakis, the Greek liberal MEP of the German FDP party, stated that the austerity measures ordered by Troika and the cuts in health care have led to a 43% increase in new-born deaths.
Chatzimarkakis also pointed out that the policy of the Troika goes against basic human rights. “There are a lot of legal studies that tell us that the legal security of human rights, basic civil rights, are not given anymore. Mrs Merkel and Mr Barroso present to us another Greece, and not the real Greece,” he said.
A recent report published by the Lancet, one of the top medical journals, claims that the Greek government was wrong when it stated that public spending cuts have not damaged health care.
Greece has cut its health budget to 6% of GDP and has stopped many health programs for vulnerable groups, such as drug use prevention programs, which has resulted in a rise in HIV infections. Moreover, the reduction of the public health budget has caused long waiting lists, and an increasing number of uninsured people.
Chatzimarkakis noted that he wanted to report the Greek healthcare problems to the Ombudsman and the Council of Europe as fundamental human rights are being violated in a EU member state.
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