Strenghtening prison health care in Greece

The project supports the Greek authorities’ efforts to develop policies and adopt measures in the area of provision of health care and overcrowding in prisons. Council of Europe expertise will address the shortcomings identified by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and will enhance the execution of European Court of Human Rights judgments.

Prison healthcare system in Greece is currently in transition. Ministry of Citizens Protection remains in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the competent authorities of Primary Health Care following the strategic decision to gradually incorporate prison health care in the public health care.

The project is in line with the Strategic Plan for Crime Prevention Policy 2018-2020, Strategic Objective 6: Health services in prisons and Strategic objective 3: Reducing overcrowding in collaboration with the MoH. CoE has provided expertise for the development of the Strategic Plan and is following its implementation. The project will directly support the implementation of the Strategic Plan, being the first consistent and coherent effort to set the goals and define the strategy and basic principles of the penitentiary policy in Greece.

The Action started on 1 June 2019 and will be completed on 31 May 2021 with an overall budget of 600.000 Euros financed by the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Prison doctors and nursing staff trained in Greece on Council of Europe standards

Ten members of the prison medical staff (doctor and nurses) from different prisons across Greece, benefited from a 3-day Training of Trainers (ToT) course that took place in Athens from 8 to 10 November 2021.

The participating doctors and nurses enhanced their knowledge on health care issues specific for their work in prison, such as: medical ethics, principles of health care, health promotion and prevention in prison medical screening, infectious diseases, and documentation of injuries. The trained trainers are now ready to deliver training for their peers, prison staff including doctors, nurses, social workers, security, and administrative staff.

The ToT is based on a training curriculum for penitentiary medical staff developed within the project in 2021. The curriculum aims at improving the life of all prisoners and complements the material developed by the project on mental health care, i.e. the Manual on Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm and the Training Curricula on Mental Healthcare. Both curricula will be handed over the Greek authorities for use by the newly established Penitentiary Academy.

The Training has been organized within the project „Strengthening prison health care in Greece“, funded by the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund and implemented by the Criminal Law Cooperation Unit (DG I).

Greece 10/11/2021