COVID-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities for the Greek health care system

Giannopoulou, Ioanna; Tsobanoglou, George O.

After coming out of the state debt crisis, Greece is facing yet another crisis – that of the COVID-19 pandemic. The key challenges facing the organizational structure and function of the Greek public health system in order to meet the populations’ health needs are discussed. Social distancing, through imposed national lockdown very early in the pandemic, has been a key emergency public health measure that has saved lives. However, the system needs to enhance its capacity, through strengthening primary health and social support care, to be able to meet existing unmet health needs, the impact of the pandemic on mental health, as well as to tackle future new waves of outbreak. The related changes in health service provisions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic call for developing new models and novel approaches for delivering effective mental health services.