Doctors of the World Greece
Médecins du Monde – Doctors of the World Greece (MdM Greece) was founded in 1990 and is part of an international network operating in more than 70 countries, supported by volunteer doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and administrators. For more than 30 years they have been implementing humanitarian aid and health care programs to the most vulnerable in Greece.
MdM Greece runs primary health care and preventive medicine programs in response to the increasing health needs prompted by the socio-economic and refugee crises in Greece and works proactively to empower local groups, communities, and medical experts to build more sustainable and robust healthcare infrastructure.
MdM Greece operates in various locations in Greece, including three Open Polyclinics in Athens and Thessaloniki, two accommodation centres for the homeless and women at risk, a centre of empowerment for children and adolescents at risk, and social and medical services on remote islands.
In 2019, The Hellenic Initiative Australia supported a Public Health Project at the Athens Open Polyclinic, providing urgent health care services to thousands of people on a yearly basis.
The THI Australia Public Health Project aims to contribute to the general health status and disease prevention for vulnerable social groups in Greece by offering accessible and qualitative health services to disadvantaged people.
To date, 12,118 disadvantaged individuals have received access to public health care services, 53,056 consultations and 13,451 medical assessments, delivered by MdM Greece at the Open Polyclinic in Athens.
This Public Health project is funded by Perth-based benefactor Dr Constantine Berbatis and his family, who pledged $500,000 to THI Australia in 2019, over five years, in support of public health initiatives in Greece.