ATHENS – In graying Greece, where the number of elderly is multiplying fast – 22.64 percent of the population of 10.67 million is over 65 – there isn’t any recognized geriatric medical care specialty.

The Hellenic Society for the Study & Research of Aging (EEMEG) said the state, as well as the academic community, medical staff and public should push for creation of a geriatric branch of medicine, said Kathimerini.

EEMEG said the New Democracy government must recognize geriatrics as a medical specialization and draft a plan to deal with it, including the creation of structures and services for the needs of the elderly.

“We are not giving older people the opportunities they need to get the best possible treatment. In the country of Hippocrates, geriatrics does not exist,” EEMEG head Athanasios Benetos told the paper.

The elderly, it was said, are getting fragmented care, leaving families often feeling helpless and doctors encountering difficulties in dealing with the medical problems they face with patients in that category.