Healthcare in Greece

Healthcare in Greece consists of a universal health care system provided through national health insurance, and private health care. According to the 2011 budget, the Greek healthcare system was allocated 6.1 billion euro, or 2.8% of GDP. In a 2000 report by the World Health Organization, the Greek healthcare system was ranked 14th worldwide in the overall assessment, above other countries such as Germany (25) and the United Kingdom (18), while ranking 11th at level of service.

Healthcare in Greece is provided by the National Healthcare Service, or ESY (Greek: Εθνικό Σύστημα Υγείας, ΕΣΥ).

Healthcare in Greece traces its roots to the ancient Greek civilization. Hospitals did not exist in the modern sense in the ancient Greek world, but temples dedicated to the healing god Aesculapius (called Asclepieia) functioned as healing places as well as places of worship. It is not known whether or not cities in ancient Greece provided free healthcare to their citizens, but recent study of the ruins of the Kos Asclepieion show that medical services were offered to everyone who could pay for them, including slaves and foreigners.

The Byzantine Empire is accredited by some for having invented the hospital as the institution we know it to be today. Professor Timothy S. Miller of the Johns Hopkins University argues that the Byzantine Empire was the first to employ a system of hospital-based healthcare, where the hospital became the chief institution of the medical profession in contrast to its function as a last resort in Western medieval Europe, carrying forward the medical knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome.

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