Gov’t prepares to launch neighborhood health units

The government is set to launch an overhaul of primary healthcare, which it aims to provide via neighborhood units that will be staffed by family doctors, nurses and social workers, among others.

The new centers will be tasked with working both on prevention and treatment of illnesses. They will be responsible for dealing with a fixed number of people, according to their location.

The government’s aim is to create 25 of these neighborhood units in urban areas next year and another 25 in 2017.

Health Minister Andreas Xanthos was given the go-ahead to set up the centers following a meeting of the government’s social policy council.