:00:11. > :00:18.some people have had to turn to charities to get treatment. Athens,
:00:18. > :00:28.Greece, 2013. Six years of recession and four years of tough or spirit
:00:28. > :00:40.
:00:40. > :00:50.emerges have taken their toll on the to charity for vital medical
:00:50. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:05.treatment. The state is failing how healthcare has been affected by
:01:05. > :01:11.austerity measures that have seen incomes slashed, taxes increased and
:01:11. > :01:21.unemployment rockets to nearly 30%. Is there now a health crisis that is
:01:21. > :01:49.
:01:49. > :01:54.the north of Athens without four boys. -- Alexander Ross. Their
:01:54. > :02:04.second child is seven. Six months ago he was diagnosed with a red
:02:04. > :02:05.
:02:05. > :02:15.illness called Anthony Roddick and Duma -- and the neurotic and. An
:02:15. > :02:41.
:02:41. > :02:47.attacker can happen at any time and times a month. When he does, he
:02:47. > :02:55.needs an injection, costing 600 euros. It is money his parents
:02:55. > :03:00.simply can no longer afford. Before the recession, like 97 percent of
:03:00. > :03:06.people in Greece, this family's health-care needs were covered by
:03:06. > :03:11.work-related healthcare. When they hit hard times and had to close down
:03:11. > :03:21.that cafe business, this couple not only lost their steady income, to
:03:21. > :03:47.
:03:47. > :03:52.about health-insurance as well. -- him to this voluntarily run clinic
:03:52. > :04:02.in the south of Athens. They have come to see a doctor who works at
:04:02. > :04:16.
:04:16. > :04:22.the clinic in his spare time from hospital to provide the injection is
:04:23. > :04:26.free of charge. The family are typical of the patients who are
:04:26. > :04:36.flocking in ever increasing numbers to see this doctor and his
:04:36. > :04:36.
:04:36. > :05:28.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 52 seconds
:05:28. > :05:34.doctor had not helped you? This couple could not get access to
:05:34. > :05:39.maternity care for the birth of their baby. I have a small business
:05:39. > :05:46.venture. The issue prices we had to close the business. Because I am an
:05:46. > :05:51.insured, even public hospitals will not give me an opportunity to give
:05:51. > :05:55.birth to the child. Did they turn you away? They said you have to pay
:05:55. > :06:00.money. When you said you could not pay, what did they say? They said
:06:00. > :06:06.they could not undertake the delivery of the baby without a sum
:06:06. > :06:11.of money. It is quite incredible just how many people have come to
:06:11. > :06:15.depend on this community clinic. It has only been around for 18 months,
:06:15. > :06:22.but they run more than 9000 people on their books. That number is
:06:22. > :06:28.growing by the day. This single mother is the sole carer for her
:06:28. > :06:34.bedridden daughter who has just been diagnosed with cancer. With no means
:06:34. > :06:39.of paying for treatment, she has come to the clinic for help. The
:06:39. > :06:47.doctor told me he has 12 cancer patients on the books who, cause
:06:47. > :06:55.financial worries, delay treatment and have jeopardised their lives.
:06:55. > :07:02.The clinic is just one of around 40 up across the country in the past 18
:07:02. > :07:09.months. Alongside them are a growing number of clinics like this one,
:07:09. > :07:16.west of Athens, run by established international charities and more
:07:16. > :07:20.used to operating in war zones and refugee camps than EU countries. In
:07:20. > :07:30.just one weekend they see more than 150 children and give around 100
:07:30. > :07:37.vaccinations. We have worked abroad in the third World for years. We are
:07:37. > :07:41.in a crisis. It is the beginning of a humanitarian crisis. The numbers
:07:41. > :07:47.of Greek people who attend the clinics are up five times from the
:07:47. > :07:55.past to make years. It is the same way here as it is in the third World
:07:55. > :08:05.because of problems. So why is this basic preventative medicine being
:08:05. > :08:07.
:08:07. > :08:11.provided by a charity and not the has been hit by a triple whammy. The
:08:11. > :08:14.unemployed now have no health insurance and need free treatment.
:08:14. > :08:20.Greeks who previously used the private sector are now turning to
:08:20. > :08:22.the state, as household incomes are squeezed. Spending cuts have
:08:22. > :08:32.drastically affected the ability of the National Health Service to
:08:32. > :08:34.
:08:34. > :08:38.deliver care. All of this is the result of austerity, introduced four
:08:39. > :08:44.years ago as a condition of a 240 billion euros rescue package for
:08:44. > :08:49.Greece. The measures are deeply resented and have led to
:08:49. > :08:52.demonstrations like this across the country. Five years ago, public
:08:52. > :08:59.spending on health was at its height, at more than 16 billion
:08:59. > :09:07.euros. It has been slashed by 25%. The hospitals, government spending
:09:07. > :09:12.has been cut by 30%. Hospitals like this one in Athens Iraq the sharp
:09:12. > :09:16.end of medical care. Of course, be consumed in largest portion of the
:09:17. > :09:24.health budget. There have been a shortage of replies and staff in
:09:24. > :09:30.such hospitals. I have come to find out more. -- a shortage of supplies.
:09:30. > :09:40.This man has been a doctor here for 25 years. He is convinced that
:09:40. > :10:03.
:10:03. > :10:07.services are being affected because over all responsibility for running
:10:07. > :10:12.this hospital. The chief executive says he has managed to make all of
:10:12. > :10:19.his savings through efficiencies. You're spending was 159 million
:10:19. > :10:25.euros in 2009. Cuts have meant it has come down to 103 million euros
:10:25. > :10:32.in 2012. Where did you lose the money? Have you not compromise
:10:32. > :10:36.patient care as a result? It is not a point of quality, we are trying to
:10:36. > :10:45.get the right goods at the right price. Suppliers have reduced
:10:45. > :10:52.prices. We are working more than a relieved with them. We have analysed
:10:52. > :10:58.what is going on. You do not have staff shortages? We are focusing on
:10:58. > :11:04.the good. We are not evaluating how much we have spent. Now we evaluate
:11:04. > :11:13.everything. He denies the hospital has been left short of supplies. I
:11:13. > :11:17.can see syringes here. Some people say we do not have these. What is
:11:17. > :11:27.your conclusion? Do you believe that there were savings to be made
:11:27. > :11:36.through simply efficiencies? We have everything. Can you make the savings
:11:36. > :11:43.through efficiency only? Without promoting the service? There is no
:11:43. > :11:49.compromise in this service. We give higher medical service, the rhino
:11:50. > :11:53.compromises. I was not allowed to speak to patients at the hospital.
:11:53. > :12:00.There was no way of hearing whether they thought savings had affected
:12:01. > :12:07.their treatment. Back at the clinic, a net a man who was recently treated
:12:07. > :12:12.in another hospital. His story suggests that hospitals are
:12:12. > :12:22.increasingly making patients put the bill for their own treatment. Two
:12:22. > :12:37.
:12:37. > :12:41.months ago, in severe pain, he came ballooning of his lower aorta. The
:12:41. > :12:46.doctor concluded he needed an emergency operation. Despite working
:12:46. > :12:56.all his life, he has no health insurance because he owes money to
:12:56. > :13:10.
:13:10. > :13:14.costs, the hospital sent him a bill for 6000 euros. When he could not
:13:14. > :13:24.pay, the debt was transferred to his tax bill, which meant authorities
:13:24. > :13:52.
:13:52. > :14:01.of charge. Pressure on hospital budgets means they are increasingly
:14:01. > :14:06.enforcing the rules. Back at the hospital, they ask a doctor what he
:14:06. > :14:16.does on a patient cannot pay for treatment. We try to help them. Have
:14:16. > :14:17.
:14:17. > :14:27.you broken the law? Many times. Every day a break the law. I never
:14:27. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:32.ask rents for any patient. -- I never ask for inshore rents. The
:14:32. > :14:36.stress of unemployment and money worries also takes its toll on
:14:36. > :14:44.people's mental health. That further increases demands on the health
:14:44. > :14:48.system. I want to get an idea for the situation is like for people
:14:48. > :14:53.outside of the city of Athens. I have come to the highway and gone
:14:53. > :15:02.south of Athens to come here. This is an area where most people used to
:15:03. > :15:06.work in the shipbuilding industry. Now, unemployment is high. 59
:15:07. > :15:16.Giorgos has been out of work for four years since he lost his job as
:15:17. > :15:37.
:15:37. > :15:43.an airline baggage handler. -- 59 and no income. He is now completely
:15:43. > :15:48.dependent on an international charity, and not just for medical
:15:48. > :15:54.treatment. Judy he has come to pick up medication and if it was all for
:15:55. > :16:04.himself and his wife. -- today he has come to pick up medication and
:16:05. > :16:29.
:16:29. > :16:35.left Giorgos needing psychological treatment and support as well.
:16:35. > :16:40.very difficult for Kim and his wife. At his home, they do not have
:16:40. > :16:50.electricity. Crisis been difficult psychologically? Of course.What
:16:50. > :16:53.
:16:53. > :16:54.kind of help can you give them? Psychotherapy? There are
:16:54. > :17:02.Psychotherapy? There are psychologists who see people to need
:17:02. > :17:06.therapy. For some, such stress can be too much to be. I have come to
:17:06. > :17:10.see an old friend who works the and night to help those who are
:17:10. > :17:17.suffering from stress. He runs Greece's first dedicated suicide
:17:17. > :17:23.prevention help line. There is increased evidence that the
:17:23. > :17:33.financial crisis has posed such mend this blow on people 's mental
:17:33. > :17:33.
:17:33. > :17:37.health. Although numbers are small, suicide figures have risen by 25%.
:17:37. > :17:44.What kind of people get in touch with you and what are the problems
:17:44. > :17:48.they talk about? Many more suicides amongst men. That is because society
:17:48. > :17:56.puts pressure on men to fulfil particular traditional roles to be
:17:56. > :18:02.the protector. Greek society does not forgive floors to men,
:18:02. > :18:10.especially when they have families. I have known you for many years. Did
:18:10. > :18:13.you ever think we would be having this conversation? No, no. I would
:18:13. > :18:17.never ever have thought when we first met that they would be in
:18:17. > :18:27.Athens talking about Greeks killing themselves because they cannot make
:18:27. > :18:35.ends meet any more. I want to know if politicians and policymakers are
:18:35. > :18:41.aware of the impact of austerity on health. This professor sat on the
:18:41. > :18:48.committee that monitored the progress of the Greek government in
:18:49. > :18:51.meeting targets set by the European Union, the European commission and
:18:51. > :19:01.the IMF, known as the trite. He resigned last year. That's the
:19:01. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:07.troika. When you have a system that depends on access to key, when that
:19:07. > :19:11.depends on whether you are employed or not and you have 30%
:19:11. > :19:18.unemployment, you are creating a huge bomb which, in fact, has
:19:18. > :19:22.exploded. Why did you design?I did not think the negotiation was going
:19:22. > :19:27.the way that it should. There was too much emphasis on meeting targets
:19:27. > :19:31.and not enough of what would happen to the Greek people. Armed with
:19:31. > :19:36.sufficient evidence of the health crisis, I felt it was time to take
:19:36. > :19:43.my concerns to the Ministry of that
:19:44. > :19:47.that anyone in Greece who cannot afford to buy drugs from the
:19:47. > :19:57.pharmacist or who needs an operation, if they cannot afford to
:19:57. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:26.pay, that the state will provide the life-saving operation. He got it but
:20:26. > :20:31.it cost him 6000 euros. The hospital was pursuing him for payment and
:20:31. > :20:39.that was causing him and his family a great deal of stress. Do you
:20:39. > :20:44.accept that that type of cases going on and he is perhaps one of many?
:20:44. > :20:50.The fact that there is an increasing number of community clinics, from a
:20:50. > :20:55.handful last year, to know nearly 40, would sure that there is a
:20:55. > :21:05.greater need on the behalf of the people for such a free and voluntary
:21:05. > :21:19.
:21:19. > :21:26.still does not sufficiently recognise the health risks being
:21:26. > :21:33.brought about by its austerity is that in the last three years,
:21:34. > :21:40.Medicines Sans Frontiers have dealt with outbreaks of disease dealt with
:21:40. > :21:45.40 years ago, malaria. Spraying areas where mosquitoes are frowned
:21:45. > :21:54.can control the disease but that has been disrupt it by government
:21:54. > :22:02.spending cuts. -- are found. We had very few cases in 2011. They were
:22:02. > :22:09.around Athens. In 2012, new cases in the north. Can you say that malaria
:22:09. > :22:18.is now endemic again in Greece? is not endemic in Greece. If we get
:22:18. > :22:23.more cases this year, we can talk about it. How many more cases?Three
:22:23. > :22:28.more cases. You need three more locally acquired cases before Greece
:22:28. > :22:36.is once more declared as a country we are malaria is endemic. Three
:22:36. > :22:41.more cases of locally acquired malaria. Why when a disease like
:22:41. > :22:47.malaria raises concerns, it is ironic that the Greek government
:22:47. > :22:55.underspent on its medical budget. The professor believes it is high
:22:55. > :22:59.time to loosen the strings. We have not only met but exceeded the cut
:22:59. > :23:06.that you demanded to know you would say, please let me have 500 million
:23:07. > :23:13.euros back with an spend on healthcare? To prevent a crisis.
:23:13. > :23:19.a matter like this, I wouldn't even after troika. It is important for
:23:19. > :23:21.the health of the Greek people. The Greek population is in danger road
:23:21. > :23:31.now I ask the health Ministry official whether the Greek
:23:31. > :23:45.
:23:45. > :23:52.government is now planning to like Catalina and her family. She
:23:52. > :24:02.needs to know all that when her son Tristan 's next has an attack of the
:24:02. > :24:06.
:24:06. > :24:09.medication that he needs. That is not something that people like
:24:09. > :24:19.little in this climate. Did you imagine you would they in situation
:24:19. > :24:20.
:24:21. > :24:29.like this? No. This is very bad.Do you feel dramatised? Yes.How does
:24:29. > :24:39.that make you feel? I feel very bad. The government do not help. I have
:24:39. > :24:56.
:24:56. > :25:03.Vihas has good news for Leonidas and his wife. The hospital has finally
:25:03. > :25:06.agreed to cancel the 6000 euros they were charging him for his operation,