(14 Jun 2012) Greece's healthcare system is on life support and depending on what the outcome of Sunday's elections is, many Greeks feel the plug could be pulled.
For Golfo Gemistou, vice-president of the Hellenic Diabetes Association and a diabetes patient herself, the pending health crisis is a huge problem.
She relies on hundreds of euros worth of medication and medical supplies per month to treat her type 1 diabetes.
She says without proper monitoring and medications, the consequences could be dire.
Last week Greece's diabetes association claimed thousands of lives were at risk after pharmacists cut credit to the debt-crippled country's largest healthcare fund, leaving many sufferers unable to pay for medication.
Fifty-two year-old Gemistou thinks Greece could be facing a serious humanitarian crisis, as (m) millions of people with chronic diseases could be deprived of the medicines their bodies depend on for everyday survival.
"We fear we will not have our medications. Those of us who use an insulin pump fear we won't have it for much longer because of its high cost and cost for other necessary medical supplies. We fear for our drugs. I fear that a situation like Argentina's awaits us and that it isn't a long way off," she said.
Government officials and pharmacists resorted to a temporary fix after a two-week standoff over about half a (b) billion euros in outstanding state-subsidised medication bills.
The credit freeze meant that members of the EOPYY fund, which represents more than 9 (m) million of the nation's 11 (m) million people, now must pay the full cost of their medication, which the fund normally subsidises by an average 75 percent.
"For years we had been hearing 'crisis, crisis, crisis,' but none of us anticipated how deep this crisis would be. None of us. None of us. Very suddenly we found ourselves in a difficult situation," Gemistou said.
In addition to Gemistou's monthly medical expenses, she and her husband have taken in their children who are in their early 30's.
Her unemployed daughter, a single mother with a young child has returned to the family home, so has her son who works in the family furniture company.
According to Gemistou, her husband was recently forced to lay off most of his work force in order to keep the company afloat.
Just six months after it was formed with the merger of four major funds, EOPYY owes pharmacists some 540 (m) million euros (670 (m) million US dollars), which includes debts it inherited.
Pharmacists, who complain that the government refuses to offset EOPYY's debts against their tax dues, cut off credit to the fund last month.
Bailout-reliant Greece is trapped in an acute financial and political crisis, with a new national election set for June 17, the second in six weeks.
Its creditors have warned that a victory by anti-austerity parties, which are running high in opinion polls, could freeze its cash lifeline and eventually force it out of the euro currency, plunging the country into even deeper misery.
"I think that most of us will cast a reactionary vote. We will react to the families that have governed us all these years. We've seen them. We've lived with them. We gave them many opportunities. I believe that in part, we participated in what we're living through today in our country through the decisions that we made over the years. I believe that now we must react and send them a message," Gemistou said.
To secure massive bailout loans, Greece implemented Europe's harshest austerity programme, repeatedly slashing pensions and salaries while constantly raising taxes.
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