Health Ministry

Greece's Health Ministry decided Thursday to address severe staffing shortages in regional hospitals by recruiting private doctors.

In a desperate bid to tackle shortages, the Health Ministry has warned private doctors to support the operation of hospitals of the National Health System (ESY) that have gaps in critical specialties, or face "drastic measures" if there is no willingness to cooperate.

The British medical journal, The Lancet, has issued a warning that the true death toll of the Gaza conflict could be over 186,000, accounting for 8 percent of Gaza's population.

The current official death toll stands at nearly 38,200, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The Ministerial Decision defining the terms, conditions and procedure for the possibility of private practice for doctors, dentists and medical specialists of the National Health Service signed by the Minister of Health , Adonis Georgiades and the Deputy Minister of Health, Marios Themistocleous.

Amid an alarming outbreak of whooping cough, the Health Ministry is urging all pregnant women to get vaccinated against the disease.

Since the beginning of the year until mid-June, 264 cases of whooping cough were recorded in Greece, compared to just nine reported throughout 2023.

Of the 264 cases, 34 were reported in the first 13 days of June.

The ongoing conflict in Gaza has left an estimated 21,000 children missing, with many feared trapped under rubble, detained or separated from their families, according to a report released by Save the Children on June 24.

Workers from more than 70 addiction prevention centers across the country staged a rally in Athens on Wednesday evening to protest a draft law proposed by the Health Ministry, which they say threatens the future of their services.

The country wrapped up the Eid al-Adha on June 19, with Istanbul witnessing a surge in visitors during the final day.

Although the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, traditionally spans four days, its extension to nine days has prompted many in the country to make travel plans to the southern coasts.

The Health Ministry has requested doctors to report the information of vaccine refusers with wet signature documentation instead of electronic means for closer monitoring purposes.

Ministry sources indicated that the requirement to obtain wet-signed forms from patients refusing vaccination was introduced to better collect the number and information of the refusers.

Without an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, children are at grave risk of becoming a "lost generation" due to pervasive hunger and psychological trauma in the war-torn enclave, warns the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.