Generous Berbatis’ grant to THI maintains Greek health project into next year

The Hellenic Initiative (THI) Australia has announced a new $100,000 grant from Western Australians Con and Rita Berbatis for the continued delivery of THI Australia’s Public Health Project in Athens.

THI Australia director Professor Helen Zorbas AO said renewing the grant to the Public Health Project in Athens which is run by Doctors of the World Greece (MdM) had been an easy decision to make because of the positive results the project had delivered over the previous year.

“Knowing that we were able to offer close to 4,000 vulnerable people, across all age groups, with access to urgent health care during the unforeseen COVID-19 challenges, between June 2020 to May 2021, is key to THI Australia’s purpose and the impact we strive to achieve,” said Prof Zorbas.

She said the grant would be used by MdM Greece to employ a dedicated team of a general practitioner, nurse and social worker to continue offer frontline support as well as emergency medication to people in difficult.

Under the programme last year, 3,889 people received medical treatment and 19,151 consultations were conducted. Close to 1,500 people were referred to hospitals, 4,858 medical assessments were carried out and 3,522 medical follow-ups were carried out. The MdM staff also provided psychological support to 2,641 people and helped 2,682 to receive emergency pharmaceutical treatments.

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Prof Zorbas said that the grant would enable for 2021-22 ” a further 3,000 people who need our support, from across the Attica region, to receive basic health care services that are otherwise out of their reach.

“This will also involve an estimated 6,500 consultations, 2,000 medical assessments and the provision of emergency pharmaceuticals.”

MdM Greece President, Dr Hara Tsiouvaras said: “We express our deep gratitude on behalf of all the beneficiaries of THI Australia’s Public Health Project, MdM staff and volunteers, and we especially wish to thank the Australian donor, Mr Con Berbatis and his family, for making this additional Grant possible.”