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10-Jun-2025
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Arch Hellen Med, 42(4), July-August 2025, 565-568 SPECIAL ARTICLE The reform process of public health legislation in Greece V. Gardikou,1,2 A. Barbouni,1 A. Lagiou,1 T. Kremastinou,3 D. Laggas1 |
In Greece, major institutional initiatives for public health have been undertaken in an innovative and convergent spirit over the last decades. The short tenure of ministers in the leadership of the Ministry of Health has reversed or postponed their initiatives and changed their political direction, resulting in the projects being stalled. The reasons preventing the drafting and passing of a health law are reform discontinuity due to the change of leadership of the ministry, low funding for health expenditure, the confrontation between ministers and trade unions, and the involvement of several ministries that may lead to a confusion of responsibilities. In order to improve the legislative process, it is necessary to establish a legislative committee with qualified members and experts from the health sector. Furthermore, the regulations need to be more fully and correctly drafted, and the timetables for consultation and the legislative process need to be respected. Some reforms had common features although supported by different political parties, for example the legislation on primary health care. It is understandable that there are cases where the parties are in basic agreement with each other, but their rhetoric differs.
Key words: Changes in the leadership of the Ministry, Health reforms.
