A broad appeal to the state, the academic community, the medical world and citizens in the institutionalization of geriatrics in Greece is made by medical specialists – members Hellenic Society for the Study and Research of Aging (EEMEG) Scientific Groupall study in a particular subject at universities abroad, since our country is one of the few in the Western world where a particular specialty is not a recognized branch of medicine.

“We are not giving older people the opportunities they need to get the best possible treatment for their health problems.

There is no geriatrics in the country of Hippocrates.” accent on “k” Professor of Pathology and Geriatrics at the University of Nancy in France, President of EEMEG, Athanasios Benetos.

As he notes, “in all EU countries, except Greece, geriatrics exists either as a specialty or as a specialization. The last country to institutionalize geriatrics was Portugal, and this was done ten years ago.”

This inaction on the part of our country leads to the fact that older people receive fragmented assistance, and their families often feel helpless. Geriatrics is a medical specialty that takes a broad and holistic approach to the health of the elderly.

As Mr. Benetos points out, “The geriatrician will collaborate with physicians from other specialties to evaluate the functional status of each older person – for example, weakness, mental and muscle function – before or after any medical procedure and in choosing the best therapeutic approach. If you don’t know what memory loss, weight loss, or confusion after surgery means to an older person, you won’t be able to provide the best care.”

He adds: “It’s a matter of culture. It can’t be that the only options you have are to administer medication or put an elderly patient to bed who develops delirium after surgery.”

The EEMEG Science Group is calling on the state to first recognize geriatrics as a medical specialty and to start preparing a National Plan for Healthy Aging, which will also include the establishment of structures and services for the needs of the elderly.

As Mr. Benetos points out, “outpatient geriatric clinics can be established in large hospitals, as well as specialist teams that, together with other specialties, will deal with the complex problems of older patients.” In addition, the Society calls on the medical world to demand the introduction of geriatrics into undergraduate education, continuing education and clinical practice, and citizens to demand the right of older people to equal opportunity to receive medical care.

In this context, he asks citizens to sign on the online address www.eemeg.org a statement requesting the institutionalization of geriatrics in Greece.