Thesssaloniki paramedics protest over lack of equipment

Συγκέντρωση διαμαρτυρίας εργαζομένων στο ΕΚΑΒ στη Θεσσαλονίκη , originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

The ambulance crews were demonstrating in order to demand new vehicles and protective suits. Of the 220 new ambulance ordered in 2007 not one has been assigned to Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city and home to 10% of the population of the country.

See here for a report in Greek from Kathimerini.

On the other hand the massive medical equipment scam which has cost taxpayers billions since 2004 has gone unpunished despite a government report submitted to then minister of health, Nikos Kaklamanis in 2006 outlining the way in which companies supplying hospitals pumped up prices. For example, A titanium screw, for instance, cost 18 euros in Cyprus, but was bought for 159 euros by Greek hospitals.

Nor has present health minister, Dimitris Avramopoulos, been inclined to act on the report.

See here for a report in English from Kathimerini.

Protesting raising prices,

Protesting raising prices,, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I took this picture at a demo in which people were protesting rising cost of living. As is the case with many places in the world oil and food prices have gone up dramatically in the last few years.

However, the situation in Greece has become desperate as the cartels and monopolies that control so much of the economy have used the current international climate to hike up prices at a far greater rate than in other European countries.

On the other hand wages have remained more or less static for the best part of decade.