ATHENS — Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised on Tuesday the work of the national health system during the proceedings of the conference "The Health System in COVID-19 and in the post-COVID-19 era" organized by the newspaper "Proto Thema" and the website "ygeiamou.gr."

Mitsotakis participated in a discussion with the Intensive Care Professor of the Kapodistrian University of Athens and President of the Hellenic Intensive Care Society, Anastasia Kotanidou. Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras and Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Fofi Gennimata also participate in the conference.

The prime minister stressed that the changes planned by his government in the health system are part of the reform agenda.

"We have taken steps to cooperate with the private sector in difficult conditions. It is very interesting for the next day and it should be evaluated how the state and the private sector worked together. The health system must find new ways of cooperating with the private sector, it is not obligatory to be only state-owned as quality is the main concern," he stressed.

However, chronic pathogens also emerged, the prime minister noted, making special reference to the problems observed in primary care but also to the problems observed in regional hospitals.

"It is necessary to finally rationalize the hospital map of the country based on what is best for the patient and the health system," he underlined.