«The health of the primary sector is something we should all be concerned about. And I must tell you that the major change that is taking place in the OPEC, painful, at a political cost to the government, possibly delayed, to accept all this, is a precondition, a necessary precondition, it is the most important reform to be able to plan the primary sector for the next day. Because it is not possible, at the moment, for honest farmers, livestock farmers, fishermen, not to be paid what they are really entitled to, because the money was being lost in a system that was set up according to the rules of another era, of other decades. So this reform is necessary, it is moving forward. I understand that there are some delays in payments. But we will have important payments that will be made by the end of December. And since you are asking me directly about the issue of mobilizations, I will say again that everyone should consider that sometimes the most extreme mobilizations may turn large sections of society against the farmers who may have justified demands,» Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in response to a question by Nikos Hadjinikolaou on the escalation of rural mobilizations, during the discussion at the «Health above all’ conference.
He noted that the door of both the ministry and the vice president is always open. «It would be good if the dialogue is done with the roads open and not with the roads closed. We are open to a good faith dialogue. What we are asking for; that there be serious representation of farmers, that we know who we are talking to and also that they come with specific demands. Because at the moment there is a general ambiguity, which is not conducive to our attempt to sit down together to plan next steps that need to be taken for the productive sector. There are real problems. There are very low prices on a number of products. It is not just a Greek problem, it is a European problem. Let us see within the framework of European restrictions what we are going to do. But we are not going to make the mistake again that we made in other times of feeding and giving farmers money that we could not then justify and then Europe asks us to pay it back and with interest,» he noted.
He also said that whatever is done should take into account the European dimension. «I believe that this dialogue should not be done at the expense of the rest of society, which especially now Christmas is coming, but it should be done in a good spirit.».
«And also remember that when it was done last time, we came up with specific interventions. We resolved the issue of excise duty and its refund. We took a first step as far as electricity is concerned. Here we are. But in a climate of understanding and not with blind protests, which in the end, there is a serious risk of turning the rest of society against the farmers and missing the point. The essence is to see and plan what the next day is for the primary sector,» he said.
On the issue of prevention in the health sector, the Prime Minister said: «When we talk about the national health system and health care, we have to get away from the logic that health is only about care in health centres or hospitals. In the past, the Ministry of Health was a hospital ministry. And it makes perfect sense to deal with hospitals and we have taken many steps in that direction. But I think it is common ground that our country is now in the forefront of European countries in the field of prevention in terms of implementing a very ambitious programme, which is beginning to change, and this is the most important thing, the culture of the citizens themselves. How to prevent disease, how to live a healthy life in the first place in order to reduce the chances of getting ill. But the important thing is, how do we prevent the disease in its early stages, so that the chances of cure are greatly increased. And indeed the results so far are impressive. There are more than 4 million of our fellow citizens who have had some kind of diagnostic test, a test which is provided free of charge by the Greek state, a test which is triggered by information from the state and not by the initiative of the citizen.».
Asked about the issue of hospital renovation, the Prime Minister said that the health sector has been one of the major beneficiaries of the Recovery Fund and the resources allocated to our country after the great adventure of COVID.
«Right now what is happening in hospitals and health centres is truly world-changing. And I'm not saying this to sound pompous, but you only have to go and visit the hospitals, the emergency departments in more than 90 hospitals, more than 160 health centres.
One only has to look at the picture of before and after. One does not need to say much to see how important this intervention is. It is essentially the biggest building upgrade, not only building, but also infrastructure and equipment that has been done in the National Health System since its inception» said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
On the issue of the return of doctors to our country, who left during the crisis, the Prime Minister said: «Right now, for the first time in our country, more Greeks are returning home than they brought during the crisis years. And of course, in the medical sector we have very great opportunities.
There was an impressive event in New York yesterday. I congratulate the Ministry of Labour and the Minister who was there with many companies. Dozens of Greek companies, many of which are health care companies and pharmaceutical companies. But also health service companies were in New York and there was a tremendous response from Greeks who are exploring the possibility of returning to our country.».
«Young people and those who are thinking of returning are doing so and because they believe that despite the difficulties the country is going in the right direction. Because otherwise, I assure you, nobody is going to return. If they believe that in two or three years we will be back in another kind of adventure, nobody makes a life decision to take their family and make such a major career change,» he added.
Finally, on the strengthening of human resources in the NHS, the Prime Minister stressed that we are 15% up on the human resources of 2019. «We are where we want to be; not yet. We have spot shortages. We have a big problem with staffing units in our islands, despite the fact that we have given quite generous incentives. Doctors are paid much more today than what they were paid in 19 and than other categories of civil servants through a series of interventions, which are both pay and tax. I recall the self-taxation of on-call duties, which was a long-standing demand of doctors. So we are going in the right direction. And certainly in terms of expenditure control, a very big change has taken place now.’.
