Reform of Public Health System in Greece

Supporting the functional modernization of the Greek Public Health system

On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, having realized the overall deficits and inherent weaknesses and gaps of the Greek public health system, a new law was passed to initiate reforms. Among the provisions, the law highlights a strategy for Public Health, creates a National Action Plan on Public Health and introduces the basic principles of the National Prevention Public Health Programme “Spiros Doxiadis” and all the institutional and legal amendments to the existing Public Health System.

The National Prevention Public Health Programme “Spiros Doxiadis” is a five-year plan aiming at improving the health of the population through the promotion of health, the prevention of diseases, and the restructuring of public health services with a focus on a cross-sectoral approach. One main focus is the reorientation of the National Health Service toward the Prevention and Promotion of Health and the development of an integrated Public Health Strategy. Created within the framework of this programme, the present project aims at supporting the functional modernization of the Public Health System, by providing expertise to support the strategic decision-making underpinning the implementation of reforms of the Public Health system.

Supporting the Greek authorities in the reform of health system

The general objective of this project is to support Greece in its efforts to strengthen institutional and administrative capacity, including at regional and local levels, to facilitate socially inclusive, green and digital transitions, to effectively address the challenges identified in the country-specific recommendations and to implement Union law.

More specifically the project aims to:

• Design, develop and implement reforms;
• Prepare, amend, implement and revise national recovery and resilience plans pursuant to a Regulation establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility.

A project structured around four components

The project is divided into four components. For each component, assessment reports will be produced, reflecting the current situation and providing recommendations for improvements. Based on those recommendations, specifications will be developed for projects eligible for funding under the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).

Component 1: Technical support for improving health monitoring, surveillance, and rapid reaction to health threats

Public health surveillance systems generate information that drives action, and the data must be of sufficient quality and with a resolution and timeliness that matches objectives. In the context of scientific advances in public health surveillance, changing health care and public health environments, and rapidly evolving technologies, this component focuses on supporting the Greek Ministry of Health in redesigning the public health surveillance system to make it more effective with better use of modern tools.

Component 2: Technical support for improving the efficiency, and effectiveness of public health services

This component will focus on the optimal management and allocation of resources of the country’s public health system, which has been tested during the COVID-19 pandemic after drastic reorganizations since the 2009 crisis, and severe reduction of its resources.

Component 3: Digitizing Public Health

Since the introduction of the National Digital Strategy 2016-2021 (NDS), Greece has undertaken several initiatives towards its digital transformation to bridge the gap with other EU countries. As of July 2019, the country’s digital transformation has become one of the top government priorities via the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Governance (MDG). From a public health perspective, digitization provides several potential benefits and advantages, including support for the transition from cure to prevention. The key problem identified by the Ministry of Health, is the absence of a solid information system for health surveillance and monitoring, including an early warning system which could trigger a rapid reaction system in case of the detection of health threats.

Thus, support under this component will focus on:

1) developing a modern system for detecting health threats, improving health surveillance and monitoring of the population’s health status, reporting on trends, progress, and performance of public health

2) building an integrated system by bringing together existing epidemic intelligence systems and traditional case-based health surveillance systems.

Component 4: Internationalization of the Greek health system.

In response to the request of the Greek Ministry of Health, the project will provide support in the following areas:

• Promotion of research and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector to enhance the production of advanced products and applications.

• Promotion of Greece in the global health market, consolidating Health Tourism, and developing new financial inputs.

• Strengthening cross-border healthcare and facilitating the transnational provision of health and care services.