Medical officers and workers from the pediatric hospitals "Agia Sofia" and "Aglaia Kyriakou" in Athens are stopping work today and tomorrow as a sign of disagreement with the introduction of a bill for the privatization of a pediatric oncology department, the Greek national television ERT reported.

The special unit, which is planned for privatization, covers 80 percent of the cases in Greece of children needing treatment for neoplastic diseases (note ed. conditions that cause tumor growth - both benign and malignant).

The ward is currently part of Greece's public free healthcare system, but under a proposed bill it could acquire private status.

In protest against this possibility, the staff of the two hospitals will gather at 11:00 today outside the Ministry of Health, with medical staff suspending the work process from 10:00 to 15:00. They will make a symbolic siege of the department of children's oncology tomorrow at 09:00 and will hold a 24-hour strike.

“Our children deserve public health care, whether it's a common cold or a neoplastic disease.

They have no right to take advantage of the illness of any child," the Association of Parents of Children with Neoplastic Diseases "Flame" ("Floga") said in a statement.

"Any change in structure and/or revision (...) will lead to a potential reversal of our country's achievements in the field of childhood and adolescent cancer, retrogression and loss of valuable time, as many procedures will have to be discontinued or redefined…” stated the Hellenic Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (EEPAO).

strike in Greece

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