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Greek Health Ministry Considers 'Fining' Cancer Patients Who Didn't Have Preventive Exams

chryses-yperories-giatron-mechri-kai-80000Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis is considering having cancer patients pay 50 percent of treatment costs if they did not have regular preventive exams for the four prevalent types of cancer.
According to a report in Elefthereos Typos daily, the ministry will establish a series of mandatory preventive exams for the four most common types of cancer, namely breast, cervical, prostate and colon. Citizens who fail to have the mandatory checkups, will be “penalized” by paying half of the cost of their treatment. Those who are examined regularly and on time will be getting free treatment, as Greece’s National Health System provides.
The plan drafted by the health ministry in consultation with pertinent authorities, will have mandatory mammograms and pap tests for women, PSA (prostate antigen) and clinical examination of the prostate for men, while both sexes will be able to have free colonoscopies and stool tests.
According to the newspaper report, preventive examinations will be starting at a certain age and will be repeated in an established frequency.
These cancers of the breast, cervix, prostate and colon will increase considerably within the next 20 years, as epidemiological studies indicate, due to stress, smoking and malnutrition.
“As a people we are negligent in regards to our health. The proof of that is that recently we had an anticancer testing program for 60,000 beneficiaries and only 7,000 people came to be tested,” the health minister told Eleftheros Typos.
“We focus on making the aforementioned exams mandatory and those who are not consistent will be “punished” by participating in the cost of treatment if they get sick,” Kouroublis said.

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