ATHENS — President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Wednesday attended the inauguration of a new wing at the Salamina 1st Health Centre, to mark the occasion of World Health Day. She was received by Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, Salamina Mayor Giorgos Panagopoulos, the President of the "Elpida Association" for children with cancer, Marianna Vardinoyannis and Attica Region governor Giorgos Patoulis.

After the inauguration ceremony, Sakellaropoulou stressed that for the second time, World Health Day was again coinciding with a global health crisis, with the third wave of the pandemic "testing our endurance, increasing our fears but also intensifying the expectations arising from an acceleration of the vaccinations and the gradual build-up of collective immunity."

Sakellaropoulou noted that this was a "crucial turning point in our collective effort" and that every contribution to strengthening the health system of the country increased optimism and hope.

The president hailed the initiative by the Elpida Association and Vardinoyannis, in collaboration with the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation and also marking the Thermopylae-Salamina 2020 anniversary year, to finance a new wing at the island's health centre.

She noted that over the past year, the historic island's health centre has worked round the clock to provide not only primary care but to screen possible Covid-19 cases, test for the virus and, since January 2021, as a vaccination centre. It was one of many health centres in the country, she added, whose staff worked tirelessly to protect public health and ease the burden on the country's hospitals.

Sakellaropoulou was then shown around the new facilities, which include a paediatric surgery, ophthalmology surgery and dermatologist's surgery, as well as an overall refurbishment.