Barriers and facilitating factors in access to health services in Greece

Overview

The report is presented in five chapters. Chapter one contains the introduction and gives a brief overview of the present situation in Greece concerning the economic and social effects of the crisis and the structural adjustment programme imposed by the Representatives of Greece’s official lenders: European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF; trends in health financing; coverage for health care and access to services; and recent legislative initiatives to confront the problem of the 2.5 million people without insurance rights for health. Chapter two provides background on the framework to the study, including the method of the desk review. An explanation of the Tanahashi framework delineates what is addressed in each of its five domains (availability coverage, accessibility coverage, acceptability coverage, contact coverage, effective coverage), and how their application in analysis can help to identify opportunities for health-system strengthening towards the achievement of universal coverage with equity. Chapter three highlights the main findings from the desk review. Chapter four highlights the main findings of qualitative research based on informant interviews and focus group discussions with various population groups. Finally, chapter five summarizes the findings and identifies potential areas for future policy development and research.